Understanding craigslist.com

While much of the discussion about the influence of blogs on mainstream media has centered around reporting and politics and fact-checking, there is another aspect of mainstream media and newspapers in particular that is of critical importance but that has escaped extended commentary on the web.  That is the fundamentals of how newspapers make money.  They make it from advertising and one aspect of advertising that is very valuable is that of want ads and public notices.  Newspapers sell space for these notices by the word.

Craigslist provides an alternative to posting your want ad or public notice or event notice in the local newspaper.  It started out as a small posting service to some of his friends:

craigslist started as a small email list for a group of friends in Northern California. Ten years later, it's a global phenomenon. In a ChangeThis exclusive, Craig Newmark talks about the values that got his business from there to here.

A recent analysis of the economic impact of craigslist estimated that it had removed approximately $2.5 billion in revenues from local newspapers over the full period of time it has been in operation.  That is truly influential.

Now you can read about what makes craigslist work, explained by Craig himself.