Auction Universe
One of most promising new entrants into the general consumer auction business was Auction Universe. Times Mirror, the parent company of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, started Auction Universe in 1997 and then sold it in 1998 to a partnership of eight major newspaper companies (including Times Mirror itself) called Classified Ventures. These companies were concerned that classified advertising on the Web posed a threat to their newspapers’ classified advertising, which is one of the most profitable elements in the newspaper business. Through their Classified Ventures partnership, these newspaper companies started their own Web sites for classified ads such as Apartments.Com, Cars.com, and NewHomeNetwork.com. These sites earn revenue by charging for running ads, selling advertising on their pages, or both. Classified Ventures believed that the Auction Universe site could become an important and profitable part of its Web presence.