Craigslist vs. Newspapers

[Sonoran]

I saw on the news that a lot of newspaper companies are struggling and are on the verge of going out of business.  The media didn't blame it so much on the bad economy, they contributed it to the fact that sites like Craigslist offer a free, better, and easier alternative to advertising than newspapers.  They also said that advertisements, job postings, classifieds etc. are the newspapers number one income.

[Squirl]

Craigslist charges now for some of their postings.  Jobs, rentals, and real estate.  They have progressed with more catagories over time.  It is only a matter of time, till they charge for all of them.

[Bishopknight]

I dont think craigslist will ever charge for basic for sale items. The other categories, I could definitely see.

Craigslist is kind of like a restaurant. The free bread is the for sale items and the main courses are the jobs and rental ads.

If craigslist does charge, someone else will spring up to take their place and I think they know that.

[muldoon]

seems to me that there is a defined target audience for those who want to read news.  They are usually somewhat educated, somewhat invested in their community (enough to care about what happens). and are looking for news. 

Paying money to read propaganda doesnt seem like it would fit that audience very well.  Somewhere along the way they stopped reporting news and started selling news.  Now they just sell whatever message they are being paid to sell.  I haven't subscribed to a paper in 5 years.  I would rather get my news from the daily show than a newspaper in this country. 

It has nothing to do with craigslist, it's been a declining industry for decades.  I agree with BK on the loss leader strategy for craigslist tho, basic sale items will never be charged, they get enough money selling your email addresses I am sure. 

[Flutterby]

If I owned a newspaper, and we were losing money in classified ads, I would just increase the price of the newspaper and also increase the price of the advertisements. I haven't seen a rise in the price of newspapers at the stand for quite a while. Maybe they're due for one! 

[diyfrank]

The only reason there is a news paper is they didn't have a better way to spread news and list classifieds at the time.

Now there is a better way. Some people still refuse to use a computer but that number gets smaller every day.

[Redoverfarm]

I think it is a matter of convience to have one place to look.  Although several newspapers are on line and classifieds can be viewed you have to go to several sites through various papers to look. 

[Sonoran]

they get enough money selling your email addresses I am sure. 

I've heard about the selling of e-mail addresses.  Do you know if they still sell them even when you click the box that asks them to not give it away?  I'm sure that some people don't click it, I guess that is where they make some money.

I've also heard this idea when it comes to grocery stores and I was wondering if anyone can confirm this.  I've heard that grocery stores offer the "club cards" so they can sell your specific buying info. to people.  The example I've heard was along the lines of:  You are being sued because you run a day care and people say that your smoking is exposing their children to second hand smoke.  (I know this is extreme)  You say that you don't smoke.  You throw away all of the evidence...the prosecutor can buy your purchasing history from the grocery store and see if you buy cigarettes.   I know this is a crazy example...but this is how it was explained to me.

I'm sure that they also use the club cards for the statistic which can help them with how they run their store.

[glenn kangiser]

Pandora Computer music website tried selling memberships and that was failing so they went back to advertising supported music.  A good link BTW if you run extra tabs on your browser and like music as you browse the net.

http://www.pandora.com/

I think charging for basic services won't fly.

[MountainDon]

On email addresses and shoppers cards...

I'm skeptic enough to believe that when I give out an email address it will be sold, traded, or compromised in some way. That's what Gmail, hotmail, etc are good for.


Store cards do track your buying pattern. One of the uses for that data is to program what special offers you are proffered in places lie Smith's/Kroeger stores where they have those coupon printers at the checkout. I'm not sure what good the info is to anyone else. The store cards I'm familiar with all require a name and an address, but they never ask for proof of who you are. So why would you give your real name, address and info? Let them track and sell; who cares what your fictitious personna is buying. I'm sure that junk mail with special offers is being delivered, or left undeliverable, to some of the addresses I've come up with. One of my store cards quit working a few years ago, maybe that was why. I got a new card with another spur of the moment name, no questions asked. Not receiving the junk mail I'm entitled to has never bothered me.  

However, your credit or bank account debit/check card could be used to track purchases. Credit cards do require a real name and proof of who you are. No legal way around that. Those records could be subpoenaed if the case was serious enough. A solution there, if you don't want to deal in cash only, is to use one of the prepaid debit cards usable at any place that takes Visa or Mastercard. Or even use store gift cards like WalMart and others.

[MountainDon]

On the original subject... I think that the basic Craigslist ads will remain free, but perhaps certain categories, or price ranges may be charged for.


One other thing... NetZero started out offering free internet access. They now are a charge only company.