At 25 Years, Understanding The Longevity Of Craigslist (2024)

Craigslist is a bit of an anomaly on the rapidly changing Internet. While other sites are constantly tweaking, testing new designs, finding new ways to gather data, Craigslist is remarkable for its stability.

A typical city's page looks roughly the same todayas it did 15 years ago.

"It's like a shark that's never had to evolve," says Jessa Lingel, who's written about the history of Craigslist for the website The Conversation and also in the book, An Internet for the People: The Politics and Promise of craigslist.

While maintaining an old-school look, Craigslist has since grown to the behemoth of today, with billions of page views a month and an estimated revenue ( according to one consulting group) of more than $1 billion in 2018.

The site was founded by Craig Newmark, who started it as an email list to friends about happenings in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1995. Jim Buckmaster, Craigslist's CEO, has been in his job for two decades.

"They're both just old-school engineer type guys who just really believe in keeping the design as simple and functional as possible," Lingel says. "[I]t's never had a competitor that was really able to swallow up its user base. It's had loyal customers all along, loyal users all along, so it's just never been forced to adapt."

Craigslist doesn't run banner ads, and according to Lingel, it doesn't sell user data to third parties. It makes money by charging a small number of users to post ads.

"Ads like job postings, real estate ads, if you're like a car dealer, furniture dealer, you have to pay a small amount of money, we're talking like $5 to $25 — and that's this entire revenue stream," Lingel says.

But for most people, it's totally free. It's become the biggest market for classified ads on the Internet.

Craigslist is also different for being anonymous. Authorities accused the site of facilitating prostitution; it dropped its longtime "personals" section in the U.S. two years ago after Congress passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, which aimed to crack down on child sex trafficking. Reports through the years describe Craigslist's role in helping accused killers, rapists, robbers and scammers find their victims.

As Craigslist celebrates 25 years this year, NPR's Mary Louise Kelly spoke to Lingel, who is also an assistant professor of communication at the University of Pennsylvania, about how the site has managed to keep on keeping on.

Interview highlights contain extended Web-only content.

Interview Highlights

On Craigslist users posting anonymously, contrary to sites such as Facebook

That policy goes back to Craigslist's early days in the 1990s when it was very common to be anonymous online or pseudonymous, you know, using pseudonyms or fake names. And just like they haven't changed their appearance, they have never let go of that policy. And they see that policy as providing a form of protection and privacy to their users.

So it is true that there have been some, you know, very violent crimes. There's been scams on Craigslist. But of course, there are also scams on platforms that we think of as much classier or much safer. There's scams on LinkedIn, on eBay, on Facebook. So it isn't so much that the anonymity means that crime happens. It just means that we have a policy to blame. So we do tend to blame the platform more when we can't point at individual users because we don't know anything about them.

On what she's learned about how Craigslist compares to other sites when it comes to discrimination

I heard over and over again this sense that Craigslist is part of the poor people's Internet. And what participants and people I interviewed meant by that was that Craigslist sort of has this stigma that using it means you're lower class, using it means you're sort of hard up. But it also meant that people of color, poor people, found that they could use the site in a way that really made sense for them.

So on a platform like Airbnb, for example, if you're trying to get a rental, people can discriminate against you based on how you look. We actually know for a fact that there have been these high-profile incidents on Airbnb of hosts discriminating against guests because of their name or what they look like.

So suddenly on a site like Craigslist, you can rent an apartment, you can try and search for a job. And you don't have to worry about people discriminating against you because you're anonymous.

On Craigslist and the future of the Internet

I've been studying digital culture for about 10 years and I've always been interested in platforms that are sort of outside the mainstream. And one thing that really interests me about Craigslist is that it's been online for so long, and it hasn't had to change its politics. So Craigslist holds onto these early 1990s Web values about a platform being truly accessible, the platform being open and a platform that doesn't change its appearance. And in that sense, Craigslist reminds us there's a path that a company can take, and it can feel democratic and it can feel less commercial and still be incredibly successful. You know, you don't have to sacrifice your profits in order to protect user data.

NPR's Elena Burnett and Emily Kopp produced and edited the audio version of this story.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

At 25 Years, Understanding The Longevity Of Craigslist (2024)

FAQs

Is craigslist still successful? ›

Nevertheless, according to Alexa, Craigslist was the #19 most visited website in the United States in 2022 and #16 in the World in 2023.

How long has craigslist been a thing? ›

Description. The service was founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark for the San Francisco Bay Area. After incorporation as a private for-profit company in 1999, Craigslist expanded into nine more U.S. cities in 2000, four each in 2001 and 2002, and 14 in 2003.

How much is craigslist worth? ›

How Much is Craigslist Worth? Craigslist is a private company and has never raised a penny from investors. Therefore, its value can only be assumed. However, with almost $700 million of revenue and a profit margin of 80% in the year 2016, Craigslist can be valued at around $3 Billion.

What is craigslist USA? ›

Craigslist, private corporation operating over the Internet to provide classified advertisements, community information services, and community forums. Most of these listings are restricted to specific locations, which include some 500 cities in 50 countries.

Why does nobody use Craigslist anymore? ›

Many people are more comfortable selling on Facebook than on Craigslist or other classified sites because they are dealing with friends or, at worst, friends of friends, as opposed to strangers. News reports have featured documented cases of robberies and violence stemming from botched Craigslist transactions.

Do people still use Craigslist in 2024? ›

Yet in spite of that, it remains a household name whose niche in the contemporary digital landscape has yet to be usurped, with an estimated 180 million visits in May 2024.

Is Craigslist outdated? ›

In conclusion, Craigslist remains a valuable resource for buying, selling, and trading goods and services. Despite its drawbacks, such as potential scams and an outdated interface, Craigslist continues to attract millions of users worldwide.

Is Craigslist declining? ›

Craigslist's traffic is also falling steadily. In 2019, it was as high as 437 million monthly visits, according to Similarweb; in January this year it was just 173 million. Still impressive, but down more than 60%. Even so, it's the leader in both revenue and traffic, ahead of Mercari and OfferUp.

How many people still use Craigslist? ›

The latest statistics indicate that more than 250 million internet users visit Craigslist every month. Each visitor spends about 14 minutes exploring the website.

How does the owner of Craigslist make money? ›

2020 Billionaires Net Worth

Craig Newmark is the founder of online marketplace Craigslist. The site, which started out as a newsletter about events in San Francisco, generates revenue by charging for things like apartment listings and job postings in cities around the world.

What city has the most Craigslist users? ›

Not surprising, the results show five of the most heavily populated cities in the country. In order of most visited, the Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Seattle and Chicago sites have seen the most traffic over Alexa's three-month data collection period.

How much did eBay pay for Craigslist? ›

EBay bought shares in Craigslist in 2004 for $32 million; five years later in court testimony then-eBay CEO Meg Whitman said the company would have liked to acquire Craigslist outright.

What site is better than Craigslist? ›

Craigslist's main rival is perhaps Facebook Marketplace. OfferUp is also highly rated and strong one. Alternatively you can look up Craigslist listings in other places like eBay, Mercari or Recycled Products.

Is Craigslist still legit? ›

Its widespread use, however, comes with a caveat: the prevalence of scams. As a platform that thrives on user-posted content, Craigslist has become a fertile ground for various types of fraudulent activities, often leaving unsuspecting users at risk.

Why is Craigslist so popular? ›

Additionally, craigslist has always been free to use for most users, which has helped to build a large and loyal user base. Another key factor in craigslist's success is its strong focus on local communities. The site is organized by city and region, making it easy for people to connect with others in their area.

Is Craigslist losing popularity? ›

Craigslist's traffic is also falling steadily. In 2019, it was as high as 437 million monthly visits, according to Similarweb; in January this year it was just 173 million. Still impressive, but down more than 60%.

Do many people still use Craigslist? ›

1. According to a study from March 2022, Craigslist receives 250.6 million visits every month. The latest statistics indicate that more than 250 million internet users visit Craigslist every month. Each visitor spends about 14 minutes exploring the website.

Is Facebook marketplace better than Craigslist? ›

Facebook Marketplace allows buyers to view your profile, meaning they can choose not to buy if it looks suspicious. If you prefer anonymity, Craigslist offers that. Facebook Marketplace doesn't allow listing of services, they only allow physical items.

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