When Microsoft puts its toe in the job board market waters...

So, who isn't launching a niche job board these days?

I have been talking about growing competition in the job board marketplace for a long time... if you read my review of the job board industry, you found the list of niche job boards launched or acquired by monster and careerbuilder even before CB announced WorkinRetail.com. There are other sites there that remain anonymous and unannounced.

But, our two 800-pound gorillas are not the only ones launching job boards.  It seems everyone and their brother has one now.  Even Microsoft is at it with TaskMarket.com, a marketplace for buyers and suppliers of business services (under $500). From thier about page:

Microsoft Task Market connects small businesses with skilled freelancers for marketing and other document help such as graphic design, writing and editing, document translation, and creating or enhancing presentations and spreadsheets. By focusing on tasks accomplished using applications such as Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Access, Task Market makes it quicker and easier for small businesses to get their task done.

Launched in February, the site is in alpha or what Microsoft calls "tech preview" status.

What makes me think everyone is launching a job board? It's examples like web application software provider 37signals.com, maker of the popular Base Camp tool.  37signals.com writes a popular blog and also runs a job board on it.  Here they are talking about the revenue stream it generates:

We stalled launching our Job Board for a while because we felt we had bigger fish to fry. Once we got around to it, we couldn’t believe we had waited so long. It was easy to set up, a great resource for our community, and has generated lots of cash for the company.

Of course, they are hardly alone and maybe the most famous example of a blog with a job board might be TechCrunch. Anyway you look at it, competition for recruitment advertising dollars is heating up.

I may be particularly grouchy about the growing competition because I  still remember paying a penny per click to advertise LatPro on GoTo.com  back when Bill Gross' Idea Lab was all the rage.  I remember the good old days when our CPC ads showed in third place or higher for just about any job related keyword in the book...