Craig and company are doing pretty well these days, according to Classified Intelligence, which projects its revenues to reach more than $100 million this year. According to a discussion in the NY Times:
That is a 23 percent jump over the revenue the firm estimated for 2008 and a huge increase since 2004, when the site was projected to bring in just $9 million. “This is a down-market for just about everyone else but Craigslist,” said Jim Townsend, editorial director of AIM Group. The firm counted the number of paid ads on the site for a month and extrapolated an annual figure. It said its projections were conservative.
In February this year, Hitwise showed Craigslist’s traffic in the US outstripping all other classifieds sites combined:
Also in February, comScore revealed the top gaining online categories of 2008. Classifieds was number 10:
Insert discussion of the loss of classifieds revenues at traditional newspapers, which has been going on for almost a decade. Craigslist remains an amazing story, far far behind the state of the art in UX but tried and true, with a brand and critical mass (usage and inventory). As far as I know, Craigslist still has fewer than 30 employees.
Craigslist also exemplifies the notion/cliche that one often hears: when ads are truly relevant they’re cease to be ads and are simply received as “content.” We’ll that’s actually true here — in Jobs and Real Estate, where listing fees drive all the revenue at Craigslist.
Screenwerk 
June 10, 2009 at 7:09 am
I want to congratulate Craigslist for there success in the recent days.
It has been a noticeable improvement in there work.
That article in the NY Times itself proves that they are growing very well these days.
Best of luck to them that they grow step by step on those success steps.
June 10, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Craigslist is an extraordinary web site with extraordinary utility and popularity. I use it a lot and love it.
OTOH; Imagine if there were no Craigslist and something close to that volume of classifieds were in newspapers. That is probably worth $billions in print advertising.
Hmmm….maybe it would have saved some of the 6,000 journalist jobs lost last year…plus probably a greater number of non-journalists who lost their jobs working for newspapers.
OTOH, again…some other web vehicle probably would have emerged with a similar structure…but possibly a more expensive cost tied to it.
Price elasticity suggests that with higher prices…it would both generate more revenues…but carry less volume of classified…maybe some of it would have stayed in newspapers.
I’m not complaining…just pointing out some of the impacts.
This is a great example of enhancements through technology. They normally turn into Overall more jobs and progress.
While the newspapers have lost all those classified revenues….those that formerly advertised in print…have more money they can apply to other areas (theoretical on a grand scale–but on a micro scale–hey true for our businesses).
In any case congrats to Craigslist for creating such a supurb product/service.
BTW: the statistics with regard to web usage are fascinating. That women’s category is fascinating. It starts with enormous traffic…and it is growing like crazy.
I’m slow..and a guy. What kinds of sites comprise the topic , and which sites are dramatically popular within the category of Women?
June 10, 2009 at 10:36 pm
Don’t know what comprises the “Women” category. Probably sites like Shine, People, etc. Not sure.