I always wondered why craigslist does not advertise? They get 11million visitors a day, close to what myspace gets and myspace makes millions a year from advertising!
They charge for ads in select cities. Example, to post a job opportunity in Boston will cost you 25 bucks
I never used Craigslist, but I knew it was a free service. Well, I guess all free services become payable at some time. Otherwise, why spend on hosting and bandwith ?
But still , 11 million visitors a day is awesome and i think this is not the optimum use of that genuine traffic through paid sponsored listings. They can also start some display advertising with any CPM/CPA model. Though great masters are doing work there so i believe they are planning something better for optimum use of that much traffic and brand awareness.
Craigslist used to be good, but now I'm not so sure. the pet sections are searched by nothing else by dog fighters and people who can't get animals elsewhere and their job listings are just a spam for the most part. I think anyway
NY Times claims Craigslist is pulling in $100 million a year. Just because you don't see something doesn't mean it isn't happening. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/10/technology/internet/10craig.html Craigslist traffic is free... shows up all over search. I'd bet their profit margins crush MySpace.
They could get somewhat more greedy putting ads on. So far they been very successful monetizing the website. Who know in coming days they might put ads on as well.
You can believe that good old Craig is living large. If I remember correctly, Yahoo bought a piece of the Craigslist action a couple of years ago.
If Craigslist is going to get acquired by Yahoo, so no wonder they are not in a rush for ads as they already have become part of a bigger project.
I wonder if there is also a charge for a higher dollar amount, if you are selling something. I live in a relatively small area and have bought and sold on Craigslist but not had to pay. And what about certain services, i.e., real estate? Since I've not tried to sell anything high-ticket, it hasn't been an issue, but perhaps one of you know that answer?