Wikipedia

Craigslist

classified advertisements website

Craigslist is a centralized network of online communities for free classified advertisements (with jobs, internships, housing, personal advertisements, erotic services, for sale/barter/wanted, services, community, and pets categories) and forums on various topics.

Craigslist Inc.
TypePrivate company
Foundation date1995 (1995) (incorporated 1999)
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California, U.S.[1]
Area served570 cities in 70 countries
Founder(s)Craig Newmark
Key peopleJim Buckmaster (CEO)
ServicesWeb communications
RevenueIncrease US $ 694 million (2016)
Net incomeIncrease US $500 million (2016)
Employees50 (2017)
Websitewww.craigslist.org
Written inPerl[2]
Alexa rankDecrease 110 (February 2017)[3]
Type of siteClassifieds, forums
AdvertisingNone
RegistrationOptional
Available inEnglish, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese
Launched1995
Current statusActive

Description

change

The service was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark for the San Francisco Bay Area. After incorporation as a private for-profit company in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more U.S. cities in 2000, four each in 2001 and 2002, and 14 in 2003. By September 2007, Craigslist had established itself in approximately 450 cities in 50 countries.

In 2007 Craigslist operated with a staff of 24 people.[4] 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, Los Angeles, San Diego, Boston, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Chicago and recently Portland, Oregon) and paid broker apartment listings in New York City ($10 per ad).

The site serves over nine billion page views per month, putting it in 56th place overall among web sites worldwide, ninth place overall among web sites in the United States (per Alexa.com on January 10, 2008), to over thirty million unique visitors. With over thirty million new classified advertisements each month, Craigslist[5] is the leading classifieds service in any medium. The site receives over two million new job listings each month. So it is one of the top job boards in the world.[6]

Criticism

change
  • In July 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle criticized Craigslist for allowing ads from dog breeders, and thereby allegedly encouraging the over breeding and irresponsible selling of pit bulls in the Bay Area.[7]
  • In January 2006, the San Francisco Bay Guardian published an editorial criticizing Craigslist for moving into local communities and "threatening to eviscerate" local alternative newspapers. Craigslist has been compared to Wal-Mart, a multinational corporation that some feel crushes small local businesses when they move into towns and offer a huge assortment of goods at cheaper prices.[8]
  • In August 2007, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin wrote a letter to Craigslist asking the company to take steps to avoid unwittingly enabling child prostitution through its classified ads.[9][10]

Nonprofit foundation

change

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 and 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.

Awards

change
  • NYPRESS: 2003, Best Local Website, by Manhattan Reader's Poll[11]
  • Webby: 2001, Best Community Site, by the Academy[12]

Cities

change

The first 14 city sites were:[13] (entire list Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine)

Vancouver, British Columbia, was the first non U.S. city included. London was the first city outside North America.

In November 2004, Amsterdam, Bangalore, Paris, Sao Paulo and Tokyo became the first cities outside of primarily English speaking countries.

In May 2008, 500 cities in 50 countries are represented.[13]

References

change
  1. ↑ "craigslist – Company Overview". Hoover's. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  2. ↑ Roger Chapman. "Top 40 Website Programming Languages". roadchap.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
  3. ↑ "Craigslist.org Site Info". Alexa Internet. Archived from the original on May 2, 2015. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Can small businesses help win the war?". USA Today. January 2, 2007. Retrieved May 8, 2008.
  5. ↑ # (February 20, 2020). "Craigslist Complete Insight Guide (You Must Know in 2020)". Vizaca. Retrieved February 20, 2020. {{cite web}}: |last= has numeric name (help)
  6. ↑ Lenhart, Amanda, Shermak, Jeremy (2006). "Selling items online" (PDF). Pew Research Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ↑ Ilene Lelchuk (July 11, 2005). "Craigslist pressured to ban dog, cat ads". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  8. ↑ Tim Redmond (July 11, 2005). "Editor's Notes". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  9. ↑ David Pendered (August 22, 2007). "Mayor rips craigslist over child prostitution". agc.com.
  10. ↑ "Atlanta mayor says Craigslist used for child prostitution". San Francisco Business Times. August 22, 2007. Retrieved January 29, 2008.
  11. ↑ "Readers Poll Results—Best of Manhattan 2003 Readers Poll". New York Press. Archived from the original on March 15, 2007. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  12. ↑ "Best Web Sites of the Year Honored at the 5th Annual Webby Awards". The Webby Awards. July 18, 2001. Retrieved September 6, 2007.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 craigslist.org (May 2008). "craiglist fact sheet". Archived from the original on August 28, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2008.

Other websites

change
 
Wikinews has related news:

Official sites

change

News and media

change
Retrieved from "https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Craigslist&oldid=9417655"