Craigslist.org is a Web site that consists of local classified ads and forums in all 50 U.S. States and 50 countries around the world, currently totaling 450 cities worldwide. The site lists ads pertaining to jobs, housing, goods, services, romance, local activities and advice and almost any topic by city. 

Craigslist does not require a membership fee and its ads are mostly free (except to some businesses that advertise jobs and apartment rentals in major cities). The site is community-monitored and moderated and the classified ads are self-published.  It was started by Craig Newmark in 1995, a computer science ‘nerd,’ as a hobby and as an email list for his friends in San Francisco to learn out about local events.

In 1999 Craigslist was registered as a for-profit Web site. The site has remained true to its roots of being a services type organization that is uncommercial in its nature, and has a non-corporate culture. And what a profit it has made. In 2003 Craigslist had revenue of $7 million, and it is predicted that it could see revenue for 2008 of more than $80 million, a 47 percent increase over its estimated $55 million revenue in 2007.

Craigslist claims it has more than 9 billion page views per month, with 30 million people using Craigslist per month; more than 25 million of these per month are U.S. based. Craigslist supports its operations by charging below-market fees for job advertisements in ten major cities and charges fees for some apartment listings.

Craigslist is a privately held company, but 25 percent of its equity was acquired by eBay in 2004 from a former Craigslist shareholder.  It employs only 25 people.  Craigslist is an advocate of net neutrality and of keeping the Internet free. Craigslist supports worthy social causes and community-based organizations.  The discussion forums on Craigslist have more than 75 million user postings in over 100 forum topics.