Monday, June 06, 2005

What is craigslist?

Craigslist facts & figures

Q: What is craigslist?
A: Local community classifieds and forums - a place to find a job, housing, goods & services, a social life, advice, and just about anything else.

Q: How did craigslist get started?
A: In early 1995, by Craig Newmark, in San Francisco, California. A little more history is here.

Q: Is craigslist a nonprofit?
A: No, craigslist was incorporated as a for-profit in 1999.

Q: If it's now a for-profit, why does craigslist still use a .ORG domain? Isn't .ORG restricted to nonprofits?
A: It is a symbol of our service mission and non-corporate culture. Use of .ORG domains is unrestricted.

Q: How much traffic does craigslist get?
A: More than 2 billion page views per month

Q: How many people use craiglist?
A: About 8 million each month

Q: How many postings does craigslist get?
A: 5 million classified ads and 1 million forums postings each month

Q: How many employees does craigslist have, and where are its offices located?
A: 18 of us work out of a victorian house in the Inner Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco

Q: How does craigslist support its operations?
A: By charging businesses below-market rates for help wanted ads in SF, NYC and LA.

Q: How many craigslist sites are there, when were they launched, and why is craigslist expanding?
A: New cities are added in response to user request. There are now 120 cities in 25 countries, as listed below (with start dates):

3/1995: SF Bay Area
6/2000: Boston
8/2000: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Washington DC
10/2000: Sacramento
4/2001: Atlanta, Austin, Denver, Vancouver
10/2002: Miami, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix
4/2003: Dallas, Detroit, Houston, London, Toronto
11/2003: Baltimore, Cleveland, Honolulu, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, St. Louis, Tampa Bay
1/2004: Montreal, Providence
2/2004: Nashville, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Columbus, Fresno, Hartford, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Milwaukee, Norfolk, Orlando
9/2004: Albuquerque, Anchorage, Boise, Buffalo, Memphis, Salt Lake, Santa Barbara, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin, Melbourne, Sydney
11/2004: Albany, Amsterdam, Bangalore, Eugene, Inland Empire, Monterey Bay, Omaha, Orange County, Ottawa, Paris, Reno, San Antonio, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Spokane, Tokyo, Tucson, Tulsa
1/2005: Auckland, Bakersfield, Belfast, Berlin, Brisbane, Brussels, Burlington, Calgary, Cardiff, Des Moines, Edmonton, Glasgow, Jacksonville, Louisville, Richmond, Stockton, Winnipeg
2/2005: Birmingham UK, Buenos Aires, Columbia, Manila, Mexico City, Rome, Seoul
3/2005: Zurich
4/2005: Allentown, Barcelona, Birmingham AL, Cape Town, Delhi, Hong Kong, Lexington KY, Little Rock, Madison, Maine, Modesto, Mumbai, New Haven, New Jersey, Rochester, Shanghai, Stockholm, West Palm Beach, Wichita

Q: What is craigslist trying to accomplish?
A: Provide a trustworthy, efficient, relatively non-commerical place for folks to find all the basics in their local area.

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.

Q: Which parts of the site have the most page views?
A: 1) jobs 2) housing 3) for sale 4) personals 5) forums

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous4:21 pm

    Hello William,
    I somehow accidently came across your blog. I am very interested to know the existence of craigslist! Your post is an interesting article. (as I have never heard of craigslist in UK). After reading this, I just wonder how much damage could free listing sites such as Craigslist do to traditional local advertising media in other parts of the US? or perhaps UK?

    looking forward to hearing from you.

    cheers, darn

    ReplyDelete