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Filed under: E-mail, Productivity, Web services

Heycraig!: get alerts when Craigslist has what you're looking for

Finding a particular item you want on Craigslist can be a matter of actively checking back every day to see if somebody has listed one in your area, but for the lazy amongst us, there might be a better way. Check out Heycraig!, a site that watches Craigslist for you, and sends you an email alert when a new post matches your search terms. It's city-specific, and kind of tricky to fine-tune, but if you want to know every time someone lists a new bike in your area, it's the site for you.

To use Heycraig!, just put in a search term and your email address, and specify your local Craiglist site. Heycraig! could benefit from a multi-city option, but Craiglist is notorious for cracking down on sites that offer systemwide functionality, so it's unlikely to happen. If you're looking across more than one local network, you'll have to take a little time to set up more than one search. Some advanced search options to narrow down the results on Heycraig! would also be helpful, particularly to specify a neighborhood or area in larger cities. If you're casting a wide net, though, Heycraig! could prove very useful.



Filed under: Web services

Craigslist swaps "erotic" for "adult", society's ills magically cured

If you're shaking your moneymaker (quite literally) via Craigslist, you've only got 7 more days before your advertisements meet with closer scrutiny. In -- yet another -- agreement with a state Attorney General (this time, Connecticut) Craigslist will remove the Erotic Services category.

Replacing "Erotic" will be a services section simply called "Adult".

Craigslist says they'll employ staff to manually screen postings to the Adult section, going a step further than the last erotic countermeansure they employed, attaching identity to the Erotic Services postings by charging a small fee via credit card.

Will re-branding "Erotic Services" as simply "Adult" take the e-prostitution lightning rod away from Craigslist? Our very official scientific survey -- I shook the magic eight ball on my desk -- says "Don't count on it."

Filed under: Internet, Web

Workstir wants to take guesswork out of Craigslist-style job listings

WorkStir
Want to hire movers, a photographer, or a DJ? You could post an ad on Craigslist, but you never really know if you're going to get reliable service or some guy who shows up at your door with a baseball bat asking for your money and jewelry. Workstir is a new classified ad site that aims to make the process of hiring help online a bit easier.

Users can create detailed profiles that give you a good idea of their skills and work experience. More importantly, there's a feedback system so that past customers can rate performance, giving you a good idea of whether the person you're thinking about hiring is trustworthy, reliable, and good at their job.

Right now, Workstir has one major problem: It does't have a whole lot of registered users. That means you won't find a ton of workers or job listings. And if you do find a worker who matches your needs, odds are they won't have any feedback yet. But if Workstir can overcome the chicken or egg problem, I could see a site that combines the simplicity of Craigslist with a feedback system really taking off.

[via TechCrunch]

Filed under: Internet, Web services

Could you bringsome stuff from abroad?

bringsomeSay on your last vacation you traveled abroad and found a candy, coffee creamer, or consumer electronic device that just wasn't available in your home. Sure, you could buy a plane ticket and fly halfway across the world to pick up some more chocolates. But even if they were really good chocolates, it's probably not worth it (unless you buy in bulk).

Bringsome is sort of like an international Craigslist. Just post what you're looking for, preferably with a photo, and what you'll offer in exchange. One person from Kuala Lumpur would really like some Greek Pepperonci and would be happy to buy someone a beer if they pick some up and bring it back to Malaysia on their next trip. Another user is willing to pay someone $270 to pick up a digital camera that's not available in Romania. Of course, that's only a few bucks over the sale price in the US, so you'd do this out of the goodness of your heart, not to make a quick buck.

Overall it's a pretty nice idea. But as with any online classified site, whether or not bringsome is successful will depend on its ability to build a user base. Right now there are only 60 active ads.

[via gHacks]

Filed under: Business, Internet, Web services

Cozybug: sell your stuff without going postal

Cozybug
If you want to sell a used computer, eBay's great. But if you're looking to unload a mattress, car, or dining table, not so much. One of the great things about eBay is that you can buy items from anyone in the world, which helps keep the prices low. But once you add shipping, heavy items are kind of a hassle.

Sure, you could look for items available for pickup, but most people have just migrated to online classified sites like Craigslist that have strong local communities.

Cozybug wants to take on Craiglist and eBay's own Kijiji in the local classifieds market. The concept is simple enough. Enter your location and search for items like appliances, furniture, or clothing -- no shipping required. You can also search the entire site and find out what people are selling halfway across the country. You just can't pick it up unless you make the trip out there.

What does Cozybug have that Craiglist lacks? A nice site design with graphics and thumbnail images. What does Craigslist have that Cozybug doesn't? Users. And ads. A national search for "bicycle" currently brings up exactly one listing. And apparently there are only 10 mattresses for sale in the U.S.

Cozybug has a good concept. But it's the user base that makes sites like these successful. It'll be interesting to see if they can attract one.

[via TechCrunch]

Filed under: Business, Fun, Internet, Web services

Kijiji vs. Craigslist

kijiji vs craigslistCraigslist is the number one online classified location, after all, they pioneered it. Now there's a new kid on the block, and its owned by eBay.

Craigslist, founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark, now serves over 5 billion page view per month, giving it a 34th place rank among worldwide web sites. However, eBay has been operating a similar service called Kijiji in Europe for over two years with some success, so it has begun branching out to the rest of the world. The bargain site will now be available in 220 cities across the US and targeted at young people and families looking for bargains. eBay might own a 25% stake in Craigslist, but that's not making Newmark sweat one bit.

Kijiji still does not have the content necessary to beat out Craigslist, but with some slow and steady work you never know. Craigslist does have a strong brand following, and we're hard-pressed to think users of that site would ever switch.

[via cnet]

Filed under: Internet, Video, Web services

Real People Real Stuff does video classifieds

Real People Real StuffSomebody might want to mention to Real People Real Stuff that their name is a bit long to type into a web browser. But the site's an interesting attempt at blending YouTube and Craigslist.

The premise is simple enough. Post a video add for pretty much anything you're trying to sell, whether it be goods, services, or just a concept.

That said, some items work better than others as a video ad. For instance, a guy trying to sell a used Trivial Pursuit game by reciting trivia about Trivial Pursuit? Meh. But public radio composer BJ Leiderman offering himself up to write your theme song by spoofing Bob Dylan? That's comedy/advertising gold.

[via CNet]

Filed under: Internet, Web services

Listpic is back, and powered by Oodle

Listpic OodleYou just can't keep a good website down, no matter how hard you try. Less than a week after Craigslist essentially shut down Listpic by preventing the site from scraping classified ads, Listpic is back up and running.

Whereas Listpic has previously provided a graphical browsing experience to the largely text-based Craigslist, Listpic is now powered by Oodle. Unlike Craigslist, Oodle does show pictures next to listings, but there's something extraordinarily useful about being able to browse classifieds by photos alone.

And most importantly, Oodle has an open API, and Listpic founder Ryan Sit got permission from Oodle before re-launching his site. Which is good news, because in our interview with Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster last week, he kind of subtly hinted that there's no way in hell that Craigslist was going to let Listpic start scraping Craigslist ads again.

The new Listpic looks pretty much identical to the old listpic. The only changes are under the hood.

[via WebWare]

Filed under: Internet, Features, News, Web services, DLS Interviews

Jim Buckmaster Q&A: Why Craigslist banned listpic

Listpic
Yesterday Craigslist blocked listpic, a website that lets you browse classifieds on Craigslist through a graphical interface. In other words, you could browse by photos instead of text-based links -- a feature we've since learned Craiglist may be adding to its own site (read below).

While it was pretty clear that listpic was violating Craiglist's terms of service, the site was awfully useful, and many users said they found themselves spending a lot more time browsing classifieds because of it. Listpic founder Ryan Sit has been engaged in a back and forth with Craigslist founder Craig Newmark in the user forums.

We wanted to get to the bottom of the issues, so we shot out an email to Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster. Here are his responses:

Read more →

Filed under: Internet, Social Software

Facebook unveils Marketplace classified ads section



If you notice a sudden drop in used textbook listings on Amazon or couches with 'minor beer stains' from Craigslist and your local newspaper, you can likely thank Facebook's introduction of the Marketplace. PC Magazine has the scoop on this new social network-infused classifieds ad system, which is free of charge and should be available to all users by the end of this week after a gradual rollout.

Keeping things simple (at least for now), Facebook's Marketplace has only four categories: For Sale, Housing, Jobs and Other. Sub-categories all for fine-tuning a listing, but Facebook has also taken care to allow users to specify who gets to see what. Ads can be listed publicly or only for friends and networks, and users who are not friends with a lister can only see the ad - not the lister's profile. Unfortunately, it appears that Facebook decided not to integrate any of the online payment systems, which would have offered them a serious advantage over competing services like Craigslist, MySpace and, in a way, even eBay.

As this new feature is slowly rolling out to all users this week, you should notice a news bulleting once you sign in, as well as a new Marketplace entry in the left Facebook sidebar once you can get to listing and buying.

Filed under: Web services, Google

Is Google after TV ads or classifieds?

GoogleAll the Google hype this week is getting downright dizzying, so let's try to consolidate a few of these things. Robert X. Cringely is vehement that Google is about to revolutionize TV advertising. "Google is going to let the telco and cable companies burn their capital building out IP-TV," says Cringely," knowing that Google will still be the only game in town for the crux of the whole thing: the ability to show every viewer the specific ads that companies will pay the most to show him at that specific moment." Over at CNN Money, however, Paul R. La Monica says maybe Google is about to buy Monster.com and take over the classified ads business. La Monica doesn't fail to identify that Google Base is already serving classified ads even though most people haven't figured it out yet. What is Google really up to? Don't look at me.

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