Craigslist

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Craig Newmark created Craigslist while working as an analyst for Charles Schwab in 1995 in San Francisco. The site was designed to inform friends about upcoming art and technology events in the Bay Area and also doubled as a modest space to post his resume.When the dot-com boom created the need for a centralized space for people to locate apartments and jobs, the site became a one-stop destination for all things San Francisco." Now, 10 years later, it has become an international portal where people in 76 different cities in 12 countries can search locally for jobs, dates and anything under the sun.Craigslist doesn't have a business model. They see themselves as a community service, providing a useful service to employers and recruiters." It is, according to Craig, a flea market in the culture of trust." And just like any flea market, there is both the social and the commercial value.According to founder Craig, I've learned people are overwhelmingly trustworthy, and that for the most part, even the bad guys want to do the right thing. Despite my personal cynicism, I find that my values and the community's values are the same and they have to do with helping people and giving people a break, and forgive me, but stuff like the golden rule.Who are the bad guys Craig refers to?"

Spammers, both offshore and U.S. based. But Craiglist is fiercely moderated by its loyal users who respond quickly to inappropriate material or spam." Indeed, Craig's belief in a trusting community is ultimately what keeps the site alive and prosperous.Among the unintended consequences of Craigslist's growth, however, is that it's sucking away significant dollars in classified advertisements from already-struggling newspapers, leading many to call Craig the Robin Hood of the Internet.The average person who posts an apartment for rent on Craigslist has no clue that the decision affects her local newspaper. All she knows is that, by filling out a short form, she can attract a dozen potential renters to her doorstep." No fees, no spam, no annoying pop-up ads. The same is true for personals, and everything else.A five-line, text-only ad for a used car in the San Francisco Chronicle costs $39 for 10 days. Compare that to Craigslist, which offers as much space as you need, plus photos, for free. With millions of newspaper readers choosing Craigslist, newspaper revenue losses are adding up.Their notion of financial secrecy conflicts with his idea of what Craigslist is, but so does the amount of money Craigslist makes. The revenue range often reported for Craigslist is $7 million to $10 million per year -- successful, but not extraordinary, for a company with about 20 employees." But many suspect their revenue stream is much, much higher.The site now spans 34 countries, with listings for 175 cities from Burlington, Vt., to Bangalore. Nielsen/NetRatings says the site's 5.7 million readers -- double the total a year ago -- generate 1.5 billion page views a month, making it the ninth-biggest U.S. portal, alongside mega sites such as Yahoo! In November they had 6.4 million unique views and 1.5 million page views per month. That is close to 750 raw hits per second at peak times.Another online commercial services are paying attention." Now eBay holds a 25 percent stake in Craigslist.But Craigslist doesn't plan on selling anytime soon." Craig has repeatedly turned down offers in the tens of millions." Although it has evolved into a viable commercial entity, he still wants Craiglist to be about the community.