The Story of Craigslist

The web site craigslist.com is one of the most recognizable on the internet today. It receives over 5 billion page views every month, placing it 34th in the world and 8th among web sites in the United States. Millions of people worldwide use craigslist to advertise job openings, buy and sell things, and get in touch with others in their community. A centralized network of online metropolitan communities, craigslist has pages set up for 450 specific cities/markets around the world. Amazingly, the website runs and operates with a staff of only 24 people. Its central headquarters are a modest flat in the Sunset District of San Francisco. The layout of the site itself is simple and understated, in contrast to its enormous popularity. So what is the story behind the enigma that is craigslist.com?

In 1995, San Francisco native Craig Newmark decided he wanted to create a way to share news about local events. A software engineer, Craig began posting news about social events for people in the software and computer industries. Initially, he just used a mailing list, but as the number of subscriptions grew rapidly, demand grew for a web interface. So, Craig put together a team of volunteers and contractors and produced the domain "craigslist.org"; "craigslist.com" was later added to the copyright to protect the name from other uses. Thus, craigslist was born.

Of course, the original website was far different from the one today. Though the interface was similar, craigslist back then had a much more limited list of categories. It was mostly used to advertise job openings and local events. Still, it proved to be extremely popular in the San Francisco bay area and continued to grow quickly. In 1998, Craig decided to adopt the name "List Foundation"; however, he learned the next year that this name was already in use and consequently the site reverted back to his original designation.

By 1999, craigslist had become a full-time hobby for Craig and he decided to quit his day job. Shortly thereafter, craigslist was officially incorporated and began to expand into other markets. Nine cities more cities were added to the network in 2000. That same year, Craig hired current CEO Jim Buckmaster as lead programmer. Buckmaster made many improvements to the web site, including the addition of discussion forums, a search engine, flagging system and personals categories. In 2004, craigslist began charging advertisers $25.00 to post job openings in certain large markets such as Los Angeles and New York. This is still its sole source of revenue, as Craig has refused to allow commercial adware on the site.

The astonishing success of craigslist proves that sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones. The popularity of the web site seems to know no bounds, as it continues to gain users every month.