Question about craigslist...

how do they make money? I havent noticed any ads or anything that requries money to post...

 

they charge for some of the postings like job postings for employers

 

Why dont they put up adsense? they would make so much money...

 

http://www.craigslistfoundation.org/index.php?page=Get_Involved

 

they charge for listings in big markets like chicago. it says so someplace on the site, maybe in the FAQ.

 

Yeah they are still a small company so they dont need a huge revenue. Apparently, "Craig" from Craigslist isn't in it for the money. If he was there would be more ads than Myspace.

 

Seems he is at a point where he does not need any more money . At a point of life where money becomes less important.

 

They charge for job and real estate listings in some cities

 

The job listing are their sole source of revenue (read that in a magazine article). Their site gets more job listings than most the large sites dedicated only to job postings. Their prices are cheaper too at $25 ($75 in San Fransisco) to post a job. Some of the big job sites charge $100, or more, and get less traffic than Craig.

Craig says the site will remain 99% free.

These job listings bring in an estimated $7 to $10 million per year in revenues.

In 1997, when the site first hit 1 million pages views per month, Craig was offered a lucrative banner ad deal. He turned it down saying "they are often dumb ads and can slow down the site"

The site now gets up to 700 raw hits per second at peak times.

He has also turned down offers in the tens of millions from venture capitalists.

Ebay owns 30% of Craigslist (that number is a guess, I vaguely remember from another article). Stock options issued to employees were bought up by Ebay. Craig is ok with that. He says that he and Ebay "share a similar moral compass".

Site started small and was his personal list of things to do in San Fransisco. It expanded as he turned it into a classifieds site for the San Fransisco area. It has only expanded into the rest of the country in the past year and a half. And now services 190 cities in 35 countries.

Craig is embarrassed the site is still named after him (from when it used to be his personal list of things to do in SF). To avoid drawing attention to his name, the logo is in all lowercase letters.

Excerpts and paraphrased from The Costo Connection Sept/Oct 2006, published by Costco Wholesale.

 

the only problem with posting a job on CL is that it's 99% morons who reply. It's not about the most traffic, it's about the fewest, but best-qualified applicants.

 

man if i wa him, id put 1 small adsense banner somewhere, it wudnt slow his site, and his revenues would be an extra 1 million annaul

 

He is probably already a baller...

 

Sorry - that's a load of hooey.

If somebody isn't trying to make money, it speaks to their personal values - not for their lack of wanting.

I live close to the ocean, and every once in awhile, I venture down to the Marina. I come across this boat, every now and again, which sums up the point very quickly.

The name of this particular craft is "Never Satisfied II".

Does any more really need to be said?

 

Aim is to have AD free site. That is what Craig is maintaining and will maintain as long as they have funds to sustain themselves.

 

Actually in this case you are dead wrong..

So hop on down and try to turn down the volume

craigslist was started by craig to help nerds basically who lost their jobs in the dotcom bust find freelance gigs....and as noted to give people a list of cool things in the Bay area.

and guess what???

he friggen did it for free..

you have been schooled...

 

Job postings are free in my area (Massachusetts).

I get great applicants from my ad postings. I have hired 2 web developers over the past year.

 

They charge for postings in Bay area and NYC.

 

Craigslist shares a similar mantra with wikipedia. Basically, a few idealists that get other idealists involved, and can earn enough income to maintain the beast but not so much as to make it a mega corporation.

I think its good that these people are out there on the web, they create variety and value to the experience.

Cheers,

 

STOP -> GO BACK -> read between the lines. (in English)

I'll call your attention to the word "isn't" - like where I said, "if a person isn't trying to make money, it speaks to their personal values". What does the word "isn't" mean? Did you read the CONTEXT of my response? Did you read what I was responding to?

Now, I'm going to school you twice. When people LIKE to make money, they don't STOP doing it! Hence the example with the boat named "Never Satisfied II". Craigslist is still free, despite being hugely successful. Do you get it now? (because you certainly didn't realize previously that we were saying the same thing)

I've been schooled. Whatever

If I was schooled, you just got your Master's degree....