classifieds

EggDrop Bids to Crack Mobile Classifieds Market

Ina Fried in Mobile on June 28, 2011 at 11:52 am PT

The start-up, led by a former Google engineer, hopes that a unique reverse auction model and a focus on mobile will allow it to gain traction in the market. But will ease of use and an interesting pricing model be enough to attract a critical mass?

Groupon Aims to Raise $950 Million at $4.75 Billion Valuation

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on December 28, 2010 at 2:23 pm PT

After snubbing a $6 billion buyout offer from Google, Groupon is raising more money. Well, of course it is.

Classified Provider Becomes BFFs with Facebook

Tricia Duryee in Commerce on December 14, 2010 at 9:55 pm PT

The exclusive provider of classified ads on the Facebook Marketplace is revamping the way it does business to create an even tighter bond with the social network.

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EBay's Marketplace Chief Leaves in Midst of Revamp

Geoffrey A. Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 22, 2010 at 12:00 am PT

Top eBay Inc. executive Lorrie Norrington announced her departure from the Internet company at a critical time in its turnaround effort. Ms. Norrington, who runs eBay’s marketplace business—which accounts for more than half of its revenue—decided to leave for “personal family reasons,” the company said.

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Craigslist Permanently Closes "Adult Services"

Geoffrey A. Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on September 16, 2010 at 5:00 am PT

Craigslist Inc. said the move to take down its adult-services listings was permanent as the online-classified website faced renewed criticism for facilitating child sex trafficking during a House Judiciary Committee hearing. In testimony, Craigslist’s external lawyer, Elizabeth McDougall, a partner at Perkins Coie in Seattle, and William Powell, Craigslist’s director of customer- service and law-enforcement relations, offered the San Francisco company’s first comments on its Sept. 3 move to shutter the adult-services section and replace it with a banner reading “censored.”

Maybe Newsday Made Its Pay Wall a Little Too Strong

Peter Kafka in Media on January 26, 2010 at 5:16 pm PT

That pay wall that Newsday put around its Web site last year? Crazily effective–at keeping people from buying an online subscription. Since the wall went up three months ago, only 35 people–as in not quite three dozen–have paid the $5-a-week fee for Web access. What does this tell us about the New York Times plan? Not much.

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Whitman Testifies in EBay-Craigslist Dispute

Jerry A. Dicolo, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on December 8, 2009 at 8:18 am PT

Former eBay Inc. Chief Executive Meg Whitman was never aware of any plans by the company to steal any secret information from Craigslist while eBay was a minority stakeholder, Ms. Whitman testified on Monday. Ms. Whitman, who served as eBay’s CEO from 1998 until 2008 and is now running for governor of California, added that eBay originally had hoped to purchase all of Craigslist; however, she learned it would be impossible to gain a controlling interest without purchasing stock from Craigslist owners Craig Newmark and Jim Buckmaster.

New York Times Delivers Some Not Terrible News: Earnings, Ad Sales Better Than Expected

Peter Kafka in Media on October 22, 2009 at 5:05 am PT

The New York Times announced plans to cut eight percent of its newsroom payroll this week, citing “economic thunderstorms,” which suggested that this morning’s earnings results were going to be particularly unpleasant. Surprise! They’re not that awful, at least by the diminished standards of the newspaper industry.

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Craigslist and S.C. Attorney General Step Up Rhetoric

Geoffrey A. Fowler, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on May 18, 2009 at 5:00 pm PT

The battle over adult ads on Craigslist is escalating–at least in South Carolina. On May 5, the Palmetto State’s Attorney General Henry McMaster threatened to prosecute executives from the online classifieds site, if ads on the site play a role in a prostitution case in South Carolina.