I always wonder how craigslist made money. Don’t really ever see any ads ever being shown. Craigslist is by far the leader on free online classified ads and has built a solid online presence with more than twelve billion views per month, not to shabby eh? Craigslist was started back in 1995 by Craig Newmark. Craigs list has about twenty five employees. Ok but how does craigslist make money? Well according to their website in their frequently asked questions.
Q: Why doesn’t craigslist focus more on generating revenue?
A: We rely on local communities to suggest ways to make money without compromising craigslist.
Ok craigslist relies on local communities to suggest ways to make money whatever the heck that means. I know they also make money from donations and also from the job ads. That’s it I wouldn’t think by just charging the job ads would make craigslist such a profitable company but it apparently does. Not to many online websites are built like the craigslist model, they have certainly formed a model that works for them and although have the ability to generate massive amounts of revenue from advertising they elect not to at the moment and keep their website advertisement free.
My opinion is craigslist is a lottery ticket just waiting to be cashed, question is whether when or if ever it will be. What do you think, would you still utilize craigslist if it began running advertisement on their site?
{ 102 comments… read them below or add one }
most donations are coming from the scammers. craigslist lacks of professionalism, i doubt people would pay money to use them. People use them because they are free, and they just ignore a lot of the inconvenience the site has.
Does not matter to me if they run ads. Not sure what the big deal is.
I’ve always wondered how Craigslist makes money. I think more people are willing to trust it simply because it has no aids. But I agree that they are sitting on top of a gold mine.
I would continue to use it with ads. It’s amazing that it hasn’t had ads all of these years. Imagine the income with just adsense.
Craigslist made 36 million on Adult service ads last year. Just censored !
maybe i am just an idiot but i dont get it.
where and how do they get their profits?
please help me.
I would ignore the ads, and have nothing against a company trying to pay da bills.
Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa´s last [type] ..Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Florida 813 655-8777
I have to admit that when I first saw Craigslist, I asked myself, how do they monetize this website, with huge traffic. I was surprised I couldn’t see any ads and I am still surprised they don’t use any kind of ads on the website. Probably they know more than “We rely on local communities to suggest ways to make money without compromising craigslist”.
Patel
Urvisha Patel@Diabetes in dogs´s last [type] ..Treatment for Diabetes In Dogs
I think that the reason craigslist is able to remain profitable is exactly because it does not bombard it’s users with excessive advertising. I think that the moment it did that it would cease to be such a popular site. It’s interesting that twitter has only just moved into displaying adverts on it’s site, but I agree that craigslist is sitting on a huge pot of cash if it can figure out how to generate greater revenues that don’t turn off visitors.
Craigslist is awesome and I would still use it also if it had ads. I remember seeing Craig was on Leno or something. That guy is loaded with cash and craigslist makes a ton of cash but its all peanuts to this guy anyways.
I saw a comment about twitter and how it doesnt advertise but I remember also reading a post somewhere that mentioned that you can “sponsor” a twitter post “search” and have your tweet come up on top like paid google searches.
I think CraigsList would continue to be successful even if they displayed ads. There are several other successful services that use ads. I think this has just become something that people expect on the web, and they either ignore it if they’re not interested, or they utilize the ads if they are.
Wayne Baker@Homemade Baby Foods´s last [type] ..Homemade Baby Food- What Equipment Is Required
We all know that Craigslist is service oriented and non-profit website. I think it doesn’t get income from the traffic but from fees and donations which is not that big.
Reyson@Modern Luxury Magazine´s last [type] ..Chicago Garners Michelin Recognition
That’s really amazing, isn’t it? I mean, as a business woman, I would not spend a single cent for something that would not benefit me in any way, but, Craigslist doesn’t have a single advertisement on their website that can generate them income. I have been posting the Phoenix foreclosure homes for years on Craigslist which generated me quite a number of sales and it never crossed my mind to ask how do they generate an income.
I will have no problem if there will be advertisement on their site.
I’ve always wondered how Craigslist keeps it all going, someone brought up Wikipedia too. Craigslist seems to be satisfied sitting on a gold mine. Something will happen here, I don’t think Craig is doing this out of the kindness of heart, although its a refreshing idea. I think ads could be beneficial if they aren’t annoying pop-ups but are small, relevant and don’t cause clutter.
Craigslist is an amazing resources for anything that you need. It could re refurbished, reorganized and given some pop. I wish they would take off the personal section. I bet Google would love to get its hands on this…and I think they will eventually.
Very interesting. I had a debate about Craiglist and options they had to make more with their site and services.
Craiglist can make money…I mean a lot of money, even a simple blog can earn money why can’t craiglist?
Jay @ legitimate online jobs for beginners´s last [type] ..How to Earn at Home by Blogging
I was wondering how Craigslist made money also. Yes I love the fact that they do not have ads all over their pages but I WOULD still use them even if they did.
Carol@Video Camera Reviews´s last [type] ..Compare Video Camera Features
I think, craiglist isn’t making money equivalent to traffic they receive! According to factsheet page you mentioned above, they receive 20 billion views and i don’t think craiglist’s revenue is even anywhere near 100 million $$ too.
Kim@hgh´s last [type] ..The HGHAdvanced Review
I can see them making enough money of the job ads but it does not make sense how much they are valued at. If you look at some of the internet companies like facebook and utube i have no idea how they value those companies that much for them. Craigslist could add some ads and it would not make that much a difference since almsot every site online has some just don’t over do it and they would be fine.
freebies´s last [type] ..High Interest Checking Savings Account Cd High Yield
this is really great to listen this all, as we know that over here we can have better outcomes by following the same idea you have shared.. once i got account i craiglist, but it made me confuse, i tried actually to use it form marketing purpose, but i didnt get all about it..
Craigslist is a great ‘service’ and really provides a lot of benefits… I have ‘found a new home’ for everything from old monitors and furniture to excavated dirt from my backyard! It’s great that these things can be put to use rather than end up in landfill. Would I use it if there were ads? Absolutely… in fact, targeted ads are a good thing (I’d much rather have that than random adverts for things I don;t really care about)…
Craigslist ads get flagged by competitors here in Tampa. I use Craigslist to buy stuff, not to advertise on. There is a search tool that allows you to search all the craigslists you want at the same time. It is called search tempest.
chris tucker´s last [type] ..Pitt Panthers Football Coach arrested on domestic violence charge
I would definately still use craigslist if they had ads. Goota pay the bills. Good post , I’ve argued with friends about how they make money.
I always thought that, as Taylor mentioned, that Craigslist makes it money from job postings. I’ve used Craigslist for this very purpose, but I’ve found I get better quality applicants from other sources. Craigslist desperately needs a design overhaul to maintain its relevance. Wired wrote a really interesting piece on them a little while back, I’ll try and find a link for it.
Both Twitter and Craigslist could be great acquisitions for a major news outlet like News Corp or Comcast, especially Twitter which becomes the defacto form of communication amidst crisis and emergencies. Owning Twitter would be equivalent to owning the largest pipeline of real time information in the world – This could be the most valuable asset of any news organization. Twitter played a key role in Iranian elections last year and in Egypt this week the govt shut down the Internet so the people couldn’t communicate via Twitter – That’s pretty important sign of the times.
John Kohl@Get YouTube Views´s last [type] ..Get YouTube Views
As someone who is always looking out for freelance online jobs (and Craiglist can list many in their website), I don’t mind advertisements on their website. As long as I am getting what I need, what the heck?
I heard about the owner once and he just wants to keep the site the way it is and not try to make it what it is not. The site still generates a few million a year but just not what some think it could.
Michael@Bingo Promotion´s last [type] ..Let Bingo Fabulous Pay for Valentine’s Day
I have’nt used craiglist so I cant pass judgement But I have used (Plenty of fish) or POF ADS if you type that in google thats worked for me rather than the usual adsense adwords
Daren Honeysett´s last [type] ..The best affiliate programs & make money with affiliate marketing
I don’t see any mention above giving consideration to the traffic that CL generates. Web Site tracking software is quite sophisticated these days. Not only do they know where you came from, they know where you are going in terms of you’re browsing activity. They know things about you that would surprise you! It’s real big-brother type stuff! Big companies will pay big money for that information. In the very near future you will see web sites popping up that sell information on any human being in the world regardless of their knowledge. Indeed the younger generations will accept this as normal but us older folk aren’t used to this new paradigm!
@Paul, you are absolutely correct. Older folks like me are appalled by the information age. It is downright scary and big brother like. LOL, my real name is Chris Tucker, and the same as that of a famous person, so when you Google me, it comes back to him about 45 pages back.
I think the reason the site is so successful in the first place is because they don’t have banners all over the place. A lot of people would be put off by that…
Sonny@Kids Craft Videos´s last [type] ..A Frame to Rock Your Mothers Day Photo Box
These kind of companies are focus on achieve huge communities. The daily money is not an issue for them. The real business is to sale in a future the site to an investment fund.
i think that this link will answer your question
http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/posting_fees
I looked a little and, to be sincere, couldn’t realize how are they making money. Probably it’s a magic incantation from Harry Potter
). Don’t know, but some things are just impossible to figure. Do tell me if you find out in the end, although this seems to be a rather old topic so I don’t think you will.
I am still in awe at how Google and Craigslist have become such powerful and influential tools in today’s blogging world. They practically dictate the progression — or decline — of a site!
12 billion views per month is astonishing! I have always wondered how some sites make money. Your are right there is an opportunity there for Craigslist to cash in.
CL still going strong. They have a really good income stream. The hit they took in 209 because of personal ads was a minor hiccup. Two years later here we are and they made up the lost ground.
I wouldn’t mind if they put up a few ads down the sides or at the upper corner. To keep it community-based, it can say “This week is sponsored by COMPANY at LOCATION: SLOGAN”. I bet they could charge an extra $1000 or so per city for just a simple text ad like that.
I never thought about this, but it’s strange that such a hugely popular site doesn’t seem to have any advertising other than that posted by its users.
Craigt List is about their money. Just like anybody else should be when they invest their time on buisness. I don’t give away Florida Auto Tags for free. Craiglist is the best thing going.
For a user that browses Craigslist every single day I have to say I wouldn’t mind at all if they had some ads up – Id just ignore them :0
One thing that often is not appreciated is that Craig list have really kept costs low. The whole operation has under 20 staff and it kept marketing, promotion and sponsorship to a minimum. I think it reflects the lack of an ego in the owner compared to the other social media bosses.
A simple but one of your most popular posts – cool, guess a lot of people had CL on their minds…. it is a pretty odd site. It looks so old, is so popular and they don’t monetize it. If I owned the site I would charge to list ads in at least a few categories. AND give it a much needed facelift!
Sunny @ Las Vegas Hotel Deals´s last [type] ..Aria Hotel Talking Points
I’d never thought about HOW Craigslist made their money. I do know that some areas of it are over run by scammers. My brother tried to buy a truck this spring. I bet we had 5 fakes for every 1 real vehicle for sale. He did eventually get an honest guy on there that he bought his Dodge from. But, you wouldn’t believe the number of trucks he had to look into!
The beauty of craigslist for the average user is the lack of annoying pop-ups and advertisements in their face.
Gee, now that you mention it, how does CL make money? I guess I wouldn’t mind if they have advertisements, but I hope they’re not as annoying as those little banners at the bottom of YouTube videos that get in the way. I think I shut myself off of ads anyway.
You should try http://www.listburn.com
It’s a newer site so not as many features/items, but it keeps a lot of the spam type ads out and is nicely laid out while searching. Filters adult content and has safe meeting locations submitted by the users.
I think CraigsList can be very useful. However I’m not sure how they generate any income from it. As mentioned in the post, it could be a case of wait and see. That is, wait until someone comes along with an offer that can’t be refused.
I luv Craigslist and CraigsPhoneApp. I heard they were making money thorugh their adult services after slashing it out, they lost good chunk of revenue.
Guru@Investment Options´s last [type] ..Best Investment Strategy For 2012 and Beyond
I honestly appreciate the fact that craigslist hasn’t sold out…. Even Facebook is going public this week, and will undoubtedly comprising their success by increasing the volume of ads. Craigslist on the other hand has done an excellent job at preserving their brand and making sure the users needs are met. Big fan.