Exciting New Ways Craigslist Screws Over Newspapers
Much has been said about how Craigslist is stealing advertisement revenue from newspapers and magazines. But a recent report (I think it was on Fox 5's 11 p.m. news, though it's not posted on their website) really left me distraught.
Here at the Washington City Paper, we rely on bucks generated from a special kind of classified advertisement, and not the "Dog Walkers Needed!" variety. I'm talking about the section where valued City Paper readers are queried "DO YOU LIKE big tits and boobs?" and "LOST YOUR FASCINATION with life? Let Mistress Desire and friends take control." Yes, this is the land of "Total Asian Massages" and a "RUBBY DUB DUB! Futuristic upscale spa."
I think many people find this section to be the best one in the Classifieds pages, since it is both informative and entertaining. (Last week, I actually witnessed someone flip directly to the Adult Services listings.) And now, it's being threatened. According to the report last night, in the District, many purveyors of adult services are now doing business on Craigslist. There's a lot of secret lingo used to avoid detection. Instead of speaking about dollars, the advertisements talk about "plates" and "roses," as in "100 PLATES 15 MIN. NASCAR RACERS ," "200 PLATES A HALF HOUR," and "250 PLATES A HOUR." Just put some random code words in your post and you can avoid detection from the website. The header (no pun intended) for that post is "Friday 100 In Call Lunch Specials Available 100 Now!!"
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1:31 pm
craigslist isn't stealing anything from you. no business is entitled to continued revenue. if someone comes up with a better business model, you either adapt, or die.
this makes you, and by proxy, your industry, sound pretty damn self-important.
2:25 pm
exactly... telegraph operators weren't spared when the telephone became ubiquitous
2:28 pm
I've heard this argument before and pretty much agree with it. But, I don't think the tone of the blog is as "woe is me" as you make it out to be. We're talking about XXX ads here.
4:25 pm
NSFW warning would have been nice.
4:49 pm
Isn't everything SFW round here?
9:48 am
Ya gotta get with the times...and if something new works, why not? The Internet is changing the face of advertising even beyond newspapers...like video classifieds...now that's something you certainly can't do in a newspaper!
Check out http://www.listasaurus.com, we now offer video classifieds and even better, we're the first online classifieds site to PAY users simply for listing their ads!
How's that for classifieds with a twist?
:-)
2:00 pm
I have to chime in here. Saying that Craigslist is screwing over newspapers is like saying that the people who invented Compact Discs screwed over the Cassette Tape manufacturers. It's the inevitable evolution of how we all communicate with each other. Get with it or get left behind.
The idea of "stolen" revenue is ridiculous. Craigslist doesn't even charge for adult services ads! Also, calling this a "new way" that Craiglist is screwing newspapers is totally misleading. Craiglist has had an adult services category for *years*. How is anything in this article news-worthy?
Also, It's too bad that you think that "adult services" is the best classifieds section. Surely you have better things to do with your time?