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craigslist

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File:Craigslist.org screenshot (sfbay) taken on (Nov 20 2004).png
Screenshot of craigslist.org's SF Bay Area site

craigslist is a centralized network of online urban communities, featuring free classified advertisements (with employment, housing, personals, for sale/wanted, services, community, events, gigs and resumes categories) and forums sorted by various topics.

It was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark for the San Francisco Bay Area. After incorporation in 1999, craigslist expanded into nine more cities in 2000, four each in 2001 and 2002, and fourteen in 2003. As of October, 2005, craigslist had established itself in approximately 150 cities in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, continental Europe, Australia, South Africa, Asia, Israel, and Brazil.

As of 2005, craigslist operates with a staff of 18 people. Its sole source of revenue is paid job ads in select cities ($75 per ad for the San Francisco Bay Area; $25 per ad for New York and Los Angeles).

It serves two billion page views per month for over eight million unique visitors. Although the company does not disclose financial information, journalists have speculated that its annual revenue approached $10 million in 2004.

List of cities

The first ten city sites were:

  1. 03/1995: San Francisco Bay Area
  2. 06/2000: Boston
  3. 08/2000: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, DC
  4. 10/2000: Sacramento

Background

Having observed people (on the Net, The WELL, and Usenet) helping one another in a friendly, social and trusting community way, Newmark decided to create something similar for local San Francisco events. Soon word-of-mouth and popular demand led to the addition of new categories, and "the list" became large enough to demand the use of a list server (majordomo), which required a name. Friends started calling it "Craig's List", and the name stuck. Craigslist was once renamed listfoundation.org for a brief period of time in 1999.

Newmark says that craigslist works because it gives people a voice, a sense of community trust and even intimacy. Other factors he cites are consistency of down-to-earth values, customer service and simplicity. After first being approached about running banner ads, Newmark decided to keep craigslist non-commercial. In 2002, craiglist staff posted mock-banner ads throughout the site as an April Fools joke.

Significant events

In 2003, a documentary was made, 24 hours on craigslist by Michael Ferris Gibson.

On August 13, 2004, Craig announced on his blog that auction giant eBay had purchased a 25% stake in the company from a former principal. Some fans of craigslist have expressed concern that this development will affect the site's longtime non-commercial nature, but it remains to be seen what ramifications the change will actually have.

CEO Jim Buckmaster now plans to send classified ads into deep space (one light year) in the near future, after winning an auction for broadcasting time on Deep Space Communications Network on eBay. Founder Craig Newmark said, "We believe there could be an infinite market opportunity" in space.

In 2005, craigslist received its share of controversy for allowing the sale of Live 8 tickets on its websites. Unlike eBay, craigslist did not remove listings for the charity concerts. [1][2]

Nonprofit foundation

In 2001, the company started the Craigslist Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that helps emerging nonprofit organizations get established, gain visibility, attract the attention of potential donors, and develop the skills & knowledge required for long-term success.

It accepts charitable donations, and rather than directly funding organizations, it produces face-to-face events and offers online resources to help grassroots organizations get off the ground and contribute real value to the community.

See also

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