Topix is a network of aggregated local news and community forums.

Topix was launched in 2004 in Palo Alto, Calif., by the founders of the Open Directory Project. Three newspaper companies — Gannett, Knight-Ridder, and the Tribune Co. — each bought a quarter of the company in 2005.

The site claims about 125 million page views and 14 million unique visitors a month. It is among the most popular newspaper-owned sites on the web.

Topix supports itself with a variety of types of geographically targeted advertising, most of which are paid, though its single-city business ads remain free. Its classified ads were initially offered for free.

Topix began as a network of aggregated local news sites generated by algorithms, but allowed users to post messages and comments in late 2005. In 2007, Topix reinvented itself as a network of community-edited blogs alongside automated local news aggregation. User content has become a major part of the site, with more than 110 million comments posted since its launch.