Advertisements play the most important role for both businesses and customers. It enables businesses to market themselves and helps the customers to know about their market.
Traditionally, the best source of advertisements was the newspapers. Everyone used to read so, its ad sections used to work well. Now, people are digitizing. They need everything on their devices. So, advertisements have also been digitized to keep up.
In the world of digital advertising, a name that got super popular is Craigslist. This advertising company shifted the newspaper ad section to a website.
Since most people are dependent on the internet, Craigslist enables people to know about various ads online. It has almost all the sections of ads like jobs, housing, gigs, community service, etc.
Craigslist- The Boon for Online Advertising
Foundation of Craigslist
What does Craigslist Do?
Interesting Facts About Craigslist
FAQ
Craigslist- The Boon for Online Advertising
Craigslist is an advertisement website. It is comprised of classified sections of ads. These ads include housing, sales, items wanted, services, and whatnot.
It is like an online version of a newspaper’s classified section. The best part about the website is that it’s free to use. It allows people to post ads about their products and services online. This in turn helps the customers to know about various listings in one place.
Foundation of Craigslist
Craigslist was founded in the year 1995. Craig Newmark is the founder of the website. As it shows the name of the website is inspired by the founder’s name itself.
It started as an email list. Craig meant to share the latest happenings in San Francisco with his friends. With time it has now grown into one of the leading platforms for classified advertisements.
What does Craigslist Do?
In simple words, Craigslist provides an advertisement platform for both buyers and sellers. The sellers or service providers can post their ads on the website. For this Craigslist charges them a small amount of money.
This allows the buyers to know about various products and services online at one stop. It helps people get connected within their community.
Interesting Facts About Craigslist
The following are some of the interesting about Craigslist:
One of The Most Viewed Sites
Everyone knows that Craigslist is a popular website. But very few know that it is one of the most viewed sites in the world. It is the 33rdmost viewed site in the world. With its origin in the United States, it is the 7th most viewed website in the States.
More Work and Fewer Hands
Craigslist is the name that holds great importance in the field of online advertising. Since its origin, it has grown a lot and created a big place in people’s hearts. Almost everyone thinks that there must be a huge team to support its smooth functioning. There are mere 50 employees (2017) that work behind this masterpiece.
Multiple Languages
Craigslist born in the United States not only operates in English but other languages as well. It is offered in Dutch, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Swedish, and more.
More Visitors Than Netflix
This fun fact is more shocking than fun. Netflix being the most popular OTT platform have a huge audience. On the other hand, Craigslist without having any marketing strategy, manage to get more visitors than Netflix.
An Amazing Patron
This is a lesser-known yet outstanding quality possessed by Craigslist. In the year 2018, Craigslist owner, Craig Newmark made a donation of $143.8 million to a charity just higher than Bill and Melinda Gates.
Doesn’t Work with The Intention of Profits
Craigslist does not work with intention of raising its revenue. The CEO, Jim Buckmaster has made this clear in various interviews. The company started Craigslist Foundation in the year 2001. This is a non-profit organization that supports community building.
The organization provides low-cost as well as free events and online resources to everyone.
A Dunbar Number’s Follower
Craigslist is a follower of Dunbar Number. This is a psychological notion. It states that human groups have a cognitive limit. It means that there is a limit to the number of stable relationships that a person can have at a particular point in time.
Following this principle, Craigslist keeps its employees less in number.
A Popular Platform for Lesbians and Gays
Craigslist has various classified sections. One among the various is the personal section. In this section, there is an option for dating and romance. Here, people can post ads according to their required preferences.
The site became a popular platform for gays and lesbians. Since they sometimes find it hard to find people with similar preferences, Craigslist became the desired website for them. The section was shut down in 2018 after Congress passed a Bill on trafficking.
Sales of McLaren F1, Bugatti Veyron
Craigslist does support the sales of old and used cars. But who would have thought that people could post ads about luxury cars and get a good price online?
People have posted ads about expensive cars like Bugatti Veyron, Mustang GT, and McLaren F1.
Craigslist’s Personal Section Got Shut Down
In the year 2018, the US Senate passed a bill. The bill allowed the prosecution of any website that enabled sex workers to post ads online. Craigslist instead of developing some safety measures decided to shut down the personal section.
A User was Able to Get a Porsche from bartering on Craigslist
A young boy once traded an old phone for a better phone. Later, he stepped up the game and bartered iPod, laptop, a bike, Ford Bronco. Following the barter pattern, the boy ended up with a Porsche worth $9000.
The fun part is that he bartered this whole process on Craigslist.
Millions of Listings
Craigslist supports listings in millions. Every month, more than 100 million ads are posted on the platform. Out of these, more than 2 million are for jobs. The platform has helped millions of people get jobs.
Mahenoor Mansuri
Conclusion
Craigslist has appeared like a boon of technology in the advertising market. It is one of the earliest and the most successful platforms for advertising. Craigslist enables users to post any type of ad. However, it does have certain restrictions. These include abusive and discriminatory language, jobs that breach the ethic of equal employment opportunity, etc.
Like anything else, Craigslist also has both sides- positive and negative. There have been cases of theft, assault, and other crimes because of ads posted on the website. The bright side, however, is that it has been a blessing for both sellers and customers.
FAQ
How does Craigslist make money?
One of the ways Craigslist makes money is by charging a $25 fee for posting a job listing.
Do people still use Craigslist?
Yes, according to a report many people still use Craigslist.
What is Craigslist mostly used for?
Craigslist is a website used for viewing jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
