classified

Windows Live Expo set to expire next month

This post was updated at 11:56 AM with comment from Microsoft.

Chalk one point up to Craigslist: Microsoft has decided to shut down Windows Live Expo, the classifieds service that it originally launched in February 2006.

Expo will disappear on July 31, a notice on the site explains. Until then, no new listings can be posted or extended, and no new accounts can be created. Microsoft representatives responded on Friday with a statement from the company: "We have learned a tremendous amount from our experience with Windows Live Expo and believe this decision, while a hard one, will … Read more

Wal-Mart tests free online classified ads

Wanna buy a cute, cuddly Shih-tzu? How about a 1993 Chevy truck? A three-bedroom, two-bath house in Maryland?

Think Wal-Mart.

Wait a second before you decide the big-box retailer has gone gonzo with the concept of selling everything under the sun. It's actually testing the waters with a beta of free online classified ads.

The site, launched last week and powered by Oodle.com, carries more than 40 million listings because it taps into Oodle.com's already-existing postings. Start-up Oodle.com aggregates listings from more than 80,000 local and national sites.

Wal-Mart's free service allows sellers … Read more

Craigslist grouses about eBay lawsuit

Craigslist has responded to a lawsuit filed by eBay, noting that it "came to us out of the blue," according to a posting on its craigslist blog Tuesday.

The popular online classified-ad site issued its response after eBay on Tuesday filed a lawsuit, alleging that its 28.4 percent stake in Craigslist was diluted by more than 10 percent in January. eBay, which acquired its minority stake in 2004, submitted its lawsuit under seal and, as a result, few details are readily available.

Craigslist said it was surprised by the action, stating that eBay had not attempted to … Read more

eBay sues Craigslist over stock dispute

In a tiff over its 28.4 percent share in Craigslist, auction giant eBay has filed suit against the online classifieds site in a Delaware court of chancery. According to Reuters, eBay has accused Craigslist's board of directors of diluting its share.

The court confirmed that eBay filed its complaint Tuesday afternoon but could not provide further details, because the suit was filed under seal.

In a phone conversation, Craigslist founder Craig Newmark said, "We're still trying to digest it," and recommended contacting CEO Jim Buckmaster for further comment. Buckmaster did not immediately reply to an … Read more

Craigslist to fan blog: Give us your domain, now

You don't mess with Craigslist, apparently.

A fan-run blog called Craigslist Blog has been served a takedown notice from the massive classifieds site, according to a post from blogger Tim White on Thursday.

White posted the e-mail he'd received from Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster, which claimed that White's URL "craigslistblog.org" was "infringing" and that its name was "needlessly confusing to members of the media and the general public, and must be changed." Buckmaster did not demand that White stop blogging, but he did request that he stop using the domain, … Read more

Report estimates Craigslist 2008 revenue at $80 million

Craigslist could see revenue of more than $80 million this year, which would be a 47 percent rise from an estimated $55 million for 2007, according to projections in a new report from consultancy Classified Intelligence.

The popular mostly free online classifieds site could easily double that amount, and better compete against eBay's Kijiji.com and other rivals, if it added more fees, the report concluded. (eBay also owns 25 percent of Craigslist.)

"They could get up to $200 million in a heartbeat and it would improve Craigslist with very little backlash, but they're not about the … Read more

Firefox extension adds photos to Craigslist searches

Remember ListPic, the service that used to scrape Craigslist for photos in listings and present them in a wonderfully simple visual browser? Well it's still around, albeit with listings from Oodle instead of Craigslist proper. If you're still jonesing for that visual Craigslist experience, there's a Firefox extension aptly named Craigslist image preview that you're going to enjoy. It will automatically pull up photo thumbnails from each posting and put them into the search results so you can eyeball each item before spending the extra click to see the photos.

This works for everything, not just … Read more

Jowba serves up hot jobs for start-ups

Jowba is a new and pretty svelte looking job classifieds service. It's been designed specifically to help people find and post jobs for many of the companies we blog about here on Webware. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I'm a sucker for well designed Web sites, and Jowba is no exception--it's got both form and function going for it.

What makes the service particularly useful compared with Web sites such as Craigslist or Monster is that information about each company is a mandatory aspect of posting, making it a partial directory for all things Web … Read more

Kijiji.cn, perhaps bigger than Craigslist in China, plays in the snow

Wang Jianshuo, an avid English-language blogger based in Shanghai found this scene in the rare Shanghai snow tied to a holiday travel nightmare storm throughout much of China over the last week.

Craigslist's China sites are not particularly lively. In Beijing, English-language readers tend to head for classifieds run by the local expat magazines that's Beijing and City Weekend. Several friends, Chinese and foreign, have mentioned Kijiji as a more commonly-used alternative. At least their promotional team knows how to play in the snow!