About a dozen press associations received a bit of a surprise last week when one of the two major vendors of statewide public-notice websites announced it was “sunsetting” that part of its business. In the release announcing its decision, Column said it was making the change to focus on its public notice platform for publishers, which it says “has grown considerably … (o)ver the past year.”
Column is giving its press-association clients plenty of time to migrate to a new service; they have until May 31, 2024, to find a new vendor. The company recommended that its clients transition to the other major statewide public-notice website vendor — the Illinois Press Association — which Column called “the best alternative provider of public notice website hosting.”
Several other vendors also provide software to power statewide public notice websites, including two — Tecnavia and Newz Group — that service multiple press associations. A list of such websites, organized by the vendors currently operating them, is provided below.
Column was the only vendor that provided its platform free of charge, leveraging the deals it cut with press associations — some of which included revenue-sharing arrangements — to help market its public notice platform for publishers.
Despite the fact that it offered its statewide-website platform for free, growth in that part of Column’s business had stalled. Its last new client was added 12 months ago and both the Florida Press Association and the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association moved to new website vendors in 2023. The company is presently servicing 13 press associations in 15 states and the District of Columbia.
Column is now also providing its public notice platform to county governments in Florida that qualify to publish notices on their website under the state’s new public notice law. Earlier this year, the company announced it wanted to partner with local newspapers to offer such counties a “bundle solution” that would allow them to continue to provide notice in print. Their first two clients are Brevard County and Bay County, where Column partnered with local newspaper companies Hometown News and Neves Publishing to provide notice. Column also recently announced Tampa Bay Times had signed on to offer the bundle solution to Pinellas, Pasco, and Hillsborough Counties. And the company tells us it recently inked a deal with Dunn-Rankin Media to target the counties that newspaper firm publishes in.
Column was founded as e-notice in 2019 by Jake Seaton, scion of the family that has owned the Manhattan Mercury in Kansas for over a century. Seaton Publishing Co. also has ownership interests in about a dozen other newspapers in the Upper Midwest and several radio stations in Manhattan, Kansas.
Column is unusual in the newspaper business for its ability to raise substantial amounts of investment. After initially attracting millions in seed capital, the company raised another $30 million last year from the venture firm Lux Capital.
The software firm’s mission is “to make public information systems more valuable, beginning with public notice.” In 2020, it registered with the state of Delaware as a public benefit corporation, a type of for-profit company whose goals include making a positive impact on society.
Column
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Delaware
District of Columbia
Idaho
Kansas
Maryland
Maine
New Mexico
Ohio
South Dakota
Texas
Wyoming
Detroit Legal News Publishing
Michigan
Illinois Press Association
Alabama
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Nebraska
Nevada
New Jersey
North Carolina
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Tennessee
Utah
Virginia
Washington
Newz Group
Iowa
Kentucky
North Dakota
The Star-Advertiser
Hawaii
Tecnavia
Montana
Oklahoma
Wisconsin
Proprietary Sites
New York
West Virginia