Press release 19 May 2014

Flat hunting, dating, job hunting, purchases… Many of life's most important decisions have gone digital. Sanoma will host ICMA's international conference on classified media in Helsinki 21-24 May.

The Internet Classified Media Association ICMA will organize its spring conference this year in Helsinki. As the largest media player in Finland, Sanoma is hosting the event, which theme is Monetizing digital: show me the money.

Digitalisation and change in the consumer behavior have shifted also the classified ads to the web.

"Digitalisation continues and deepens. Many background processes of life's most important decisions, from comparing alternatives to making purchase decisions can already be done online. New mobile services and payment systems speed up the development and create new growth opportunities for classified media," says Marja-Leena Tuomola, COO of Sanoma Digital - Finland.

The market value for classifieds is approximately EUR 80-90 million in Finland. Sanoma's services: Oikotie Asunnot, Oikotie Työpaikat, Oikotie Autot, Huuto.net and Keltainen Pörssi alone reach nearly a million Finns a week.

"Online services built around the classifieds reach the consumers intending on making purchases at the opportune time and context. For example, Oikotie's housing ads were clicked 125 million times last year. Users of Oikotie also are interested in insurances, loans, interior decoration and in new entertainment services, to name a few," says Tuomola.

ICMA Helsinki 2014 Conference will be held in Helsinki 24-25 May. The programme includes plenary sessions, discussions and workshops - among the speakers are Greg Kidd, Chief Risk Officer at Ripple Labs and an early investor in Twitter, and Andrew M. Davis, author of the book Brandscaping.

Further information and interview requests:
Sanoma, Communications Director Hanna Johde, hanna.johde@sanoma.com, tel. +358 40 673 8977

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