The Craigslist Phenomenon

Sell a house? Trade in your car? Look for a rare book, a vacation buddy, Yoga classes or the love of your life? Craigslist is the place to go. Founded in 1995 by Craig Newmark, the website was conceived as a sort of grassroots channel for San Franciso residents to spread the word about interesting happenings in the community. It has since grown into a free site with bulletin boards in over 40 U.S. cities, 3 Canadian metropols ' and London. Its set of listings covers just about everything: childcare, ride shares, jobs and résumés, housing, items for sale, swap, or rent; personals, services, events and locally-oriented forums, among many others. With 800 million page views each month—more than 450 hits per second—the website has skyrocketed in popularity, enjoying an almost cultlike following. Nielsen//NetRatings says the traffic at Craigslist ranks in the top 20 U.S. general interest portals, with the likes of MSN, Yahoo and AOL. The Los Angeles Time magazine calls Craigslist "one of the hippest and most popular websites on the planet" and gives a great portrait of its founder.