eBay-owned general classifieds site Gumtree.co.za has been named the most visited website in South Africa by Effective Measure, the official online audience measurement supplier of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (formerly the DMMA).
IAB says Gumtree is the most trafficked South African website based on unique browsers received. The site attracts almost 8 million (7,969,853 unique visits) every month for its general classifieds content such as auto property, job ads among others.
“Gumtree is now officially the largest Effective Measure tagged IAB member site in South Africa for South African users,” says Effective Measures MD, Alan Morrissey. “It shows South African users are in the market to buy and sell online.”
Just recently, Gumtree took the number one slot in Millward Brown’s quarterly Best-Liked Ads survey, beating several large international competitors for the title.
“This announcement has made official what we’ve known for quite some time – Gumtree is the biggest website, and the biggest classifieds site, in South Africa,” says Johan Nel, MD of Gumtree South Africa. Nel believes there are several reasons behind the success of the platform. “Online commerce is fickle, which means you have to consistently be the best at what you do in terms of customer service, safety and delivery. When we ask our users why they are so loyal to Gumtree, they tell us it’s because the site, frankly, does what it’s meant to do for them.”
Launched in the country in 2005, Gumtree has over 700 000 live ads on the platform at any given time even when it expires ads automatically within 30 days of uploading.
“Until now, classifieds have been the unseen giant of the Internet,” says Nel. “It is the definitive marketplace driven by users, uploading close to 2.5 million new ads per month. Moreover, an increased focus on mobile has ensured the site evolves according to market needs. Unlike conventional ecommerce platforms, it doesn’t exclude anyone from transacting. It’s free, it’s immediate, it’s for everyone and subsequently, it’s visited by everyone.”
Apart from the win, Gumtree recently partnered up with For Good, an online platform that connects people with organisations needing help. For Good members aim to help organizations achieve their goals by giving a donation of time, goods or money.
In this deal, Gumtree created a section where users can donate unwanted items or request items that a charity organisation might need instead of posting to sell.
Below is the list of top websites as per Effective Measure (August 2014):
| # | Site | Unique Browsers |
| 1 | gumtree.co.za | 7,956,912 |
| 2 | news24.com | 4,492,374 |
| 3 | msn.com | 2,345,855 |
| 4 | iol.co.za | 1,893,329 |
| 5 | soccerladuma.co.za | 1,523,145 |
| 6 | dstv.com | 1,447,709 |
| 7 | Careers24.com | 1,442,193 |
| 8 | timeslive.co.za | 1,332,352 |
| 9 | za.yahoo.com | 1,259,374 |
| 10 | pnet.co.za | 1,238,961 |