How online classified sites evolved over time

Here I am going to discuss about how classified sites are evolving from last ten years. What is classified advertising in news papers and how it has been changing after the evolution of internet? How people are using internet effectively for their classified advertising and how classified sites owners are attracting the user by adding new features and what are those new features and so on…

Classified advertising or classified ads, it is a form of advertising usually contains few lines of text containing details like ad description and contact information. Different from other types of advertisement classified ads do not contain any pictures. It is different from standard advertising in that it allows not only companies or corporate entities, but to individuals as well, to actually be able to reach out to an audience and promote for business.

Classified advertising in news papers:

News paper classifieds or printed classifieds: In the past if a person wants to advertise their product or services in news papers it was a hectic process. First the person who want to advertise may need to take appointment from news paper agent to discuss about his advertisement and if all their terms and conditions are satisfied then they publish the advertisement. It is not cost effective and also time consuming process and users may not see good returns from this.

There are so many disadvantages with printed classifieds and here are some

Cost ineffective

Time consuming process

There is space constraint

Fewer inquiries about advertisement

Do not contains pictures but some times logos may available

These will reach only people who buy the news papers

Only available to small geographical regions

Now we will see how online classifieds changed all this.

Internet has made the world a smaller place rendering it accessible for anyone with a computer to search for anything at their desire. With the invention of the Internet, classified advertising, like many other printed media, has progressed online.

Nowadays internet has become part of our life. Today people are leading very busy life and are not having the time to advertise their classifieds in news papers. Online classifieds it is very easy process to advertise products without wasting time and money. With the explosion of internet, print advertisement is practically dead. Unfortunately, hundreds of classifieds sites are available to list your advertisement but only thing you must know the good classified sites and where to place ad for maximum benefit.

Advantages of internet classifieds:

Free of Cost (Most sites are offering this service with free of cost)

Provide a full page (the size of your monitor screen) display of ads

You can include images, graphics or logos to your advertisements

Internet classifieds are available to entire world (where internet is available)

Less time consuming process

Users are able to sell their products within days after posting their ads (i.e. more inquiries)

Here is list of top classified sites around the globe

1) Craigslist.com

2) Olx.com

3) AdsGlobe.com

4) Kijiji.com

Craigslist.org: Craigslist.org was one of the first online classified sites, and has grown to become the largest classified source, bringing in over million’s of visitors. Craigslist is translated into many languages and has a global focus. Craigslist is offering different zones for those who want to place their ads on different categories. The zones are community, housing, jobs, for sale, services, resumes, personals, gigs and discussion forums to discuss important topics with others.

Without requiring account also you can post listings, but it’s better to create account. After creation of account click on the "post to classifieds" link pick a city or region for the ad and a category to help people find your ad while searching then post into craigslist.

One major benefit is that here you can post your ads for free and thus the entire community is aware about the products and services offered by you. Any kind of ads can be promoted through Craiglists form personal to general, from dating to marriage etc all your products and services that are offered by you.

Olx.com: Olx has become one of the top players in the realm of online classifieds in the past few months. The site has its presence in nearly 90 countries around the world and this makes it one of the largest classifieds sites on the web today. Olx is translated into many languages and has a global focus. Olx is featuring free online

Classified advertisements with sections devoted to for sale, vehicles, real estate, services, classes, personals, jobs and community where users can search or post free ads.

Here are some features of Olx:

• OLX offers user-generated classified advertisement service for free. It claims to have reached in nearly 90 countries with 39 languages. Hence, you can post global classifieds as well.
• Users don’t need to register to post listing on site. Though, registered users can have many advantages.
• The listings can have images and even videos.
• The listings can be posted in selected category with targeted sub-categories and location. Hence, posted classifieds can be browsed by topics and locations both.
• Listing pages have rich features for replying, commenting and tracking the listing.

• Americans are not likely to have heard of OLX because its popularity lies mainly outside of the United States in places like Spain, India, Portugal, Mexico, South America, China, and the Philippines.
• OLX is one of the first classified sites to merge Web 2.0 functionality with the ease of use and simplicity of craigslist.
• Advanced search functions with sliders allowing searches at variable regional settings.

Hence, Olx is a very useful website for every netizen as it provides a simple solution to the complications involved in selling, buying, trading, discussing, organizing and finding a perfect solution online.

Free ads -Adsglobe.com: Adsglobe.com is a free, feature rich and one-stop online classifieds/ads website serving over a million locations globally, covering over a dozen advertising zones. AdsGlobe.com serves variety of users ranging from individuals to all types of businesses for their unique advertising and marketing needs. Users can post free ads or search local ads in Real Estate/Rentals, Jobs, Autos, Items for Sale, Local Events, Dating/Personals, Services, Pets, Travel and Business Pages.

Here are some cool features of AdsGlobe.com:

• AdsGlobe.com serves online classifieds in nearly 142 countries around the globe.
• Enhance your Ads with images, video etc.
• Option to remain Anonymous and let users contact through AdsGlobe.
• Job Seekers/Employers - Submit, receive and manage Job Applications online.
• Ad tracking system will capture all statistics for each ad posted like the number of times ad has been viewed, the number of times ad was listed on searches, the number of contact attempts made for the ad etc.
• Ad grouping option will help advertisers effectively track similar ads
• Ad management and control options like Edit, Copy, Delete, Archive, Activation, Inactivation, and Expiration etc.
• AdsGlobe allow users to search in most of the world cities and towns which is a unique feature that can be a huge plus for collectors, job seekers or others needing a larger search query.

• Save your frequent Ad searches from one or more Ad zones and search with a single click at any time.
• Ad Book is an advanced and unique feature which allows to configure and receive ads inbox.
• Link with your social networking profiles (Facebook, Myspace, twitter …) and update them automatically with the posted ads.

Kijiji.com: Kijiji is an online classified service that allows posting of free classified ads. It is translated into many languages and has a global focus. Kijiji is offering sections devoted to for sale, realestate, services, cars & bikes, services, jobs, entertainment, community, Events, Matrimonial and Education & learning.

It is easy to use Kijiji:

• Logon to the Kijiji website. The website prompts you to enter your regional location such as the state or province in which you live.
• Select the nearest city or town.
• Pick a category to post a classified ad and follow the steps in the posting page.
• Check your email after you write your ad. Kijiji sends an email to you that include a link to your ad. The classified doesn't become final and up and on the website until you've done this step.
• Remember your classified appears in chronological order, so the newest postings are always at the top. You can pay Kijiji a fee to keep your ad highlighted and easy to find. This is helpful if you need to sell your item quickly.

All kijiji listings have a thumbnail photo if provided. The site now has a Gallery View option that allows user to view listings in a larger photo gallery format.

Different from other sites that kijiji show images in the body of the ad, Kijiji users can view an image of an item without having to click on an ad.

The Distance Search widget allows users to customize their search results to a specific ZIP code, or within a certain distance from a location. Search results can be sorted in order of increasing distance, for localization and convenient in- person transactions.