About OwnLocal

A History of Print-to-Digital Leadership

OwnLocal has been at the forefront of digital transformation for local media since our founding in 2010. Our flagship product, AdForge, has been helping publishers and local advertisers navigate the digital revolution ever since.

From humble beginnings working with small-town newspapers to partnering with thousands of publishers globally today, AdForge has remained focused on one core mission: making digital advertising accessible and effective for publishers and advertisers of all sizes.

Today, AdForge is used by 4,000+ publishers to deliver hundreds of thousands of digital ad conversions annually.

The Problem

Every community needs the news.

Not just the big scoops, the murder, the mayhem, the violence.

Every community needs the small stories. The ones that tie a community together and remind us all that we’re in the same boat, that our differences are less than what we share.

That each morning, we’re all in this together.

Right now, we’re watching what might be the end of a 400 year old tradition. And if you’re paying attention, the future looks bleak. Newspapers are losing money, talented people, marketshare, and cuts abound.

At OwnLocal, we believe it’s always darkest before the dawn.

The Solution

Local media and small businesses have always worked together. OwnLocal starts with this core strength and makes it easy to expand the set of services that a small business can purchase from their local newspaper. Almost overnight, a paper goes from being a printing press and display advertising to a digital ad agency with a full-featured suite of modern products and services to offer.

While this isn’t the only thing legacy media needs to be doing to succeed, it’s one of the most important. And it’s baked in what newspapers, radio, and TV already do well. At OwnLocal, we think these local relationships are the perfect place to build the future of local media.

Our technology has been designed to work seamlessly with your current sales processes and makes it simple for any newspaper, radio station, or broadcast television station to help your local customers win online.

What We Believe

OwnLocal is a technology company focused on turning legacy media companies into next-generation digital ad agencies. We believe a few things that make us different:

Customer service first.

We’re not like other software companies. We have a sophisticated support system that routes your questions to the right person and gets you and your team the support they need, fast.

Evolution instead of disruption.

We build you up, not break you down. Isn’t it about time someone with the best technology was on your side?

Automation not customization.

Call us crazy, but we think your salespeople should spend less time fulfilling, managing, and supporting and more time selling. Our software does the heavy lifting so you don’t have to.

Business models should be profitable.

We make it affordable to offer products and services to all levels of customer at a price they can afford and you can be profitable at.

Innovation not stagnation.

When new features become available, you and your customers get them.

The Company

OwnLocal was founded by Lloyd Armbrust, Jeremy Mims, and Jason Novek in 2010 and is committed to building a business model for the sustainable future of local media.

OwnLocal has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, the Washington Post, Editor & Publisher, Forbes, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more for its important work.

OwnLocal has received funding from Y Combinator, Baseline Ventures, Lerer Ventures, Automattic (the makers of WordPress), The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, 500 Startups, Digital First Ventures, and more to build the future business model for local media.

Built with ♥ in Austin, TX.