MTM
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Did Craigslist decimate newspapers? Legend meets reality
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TheSportsPredictor
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Visited CL yesterday for the first time in ages. Used to be able to find good ticket deals. Couldn’t even find the section where people buy tickets. I think it’s a ghost town now.
When it comes to buying tickets, CL is filled with scammers. Everyone uses StubHub or SeatGeek now.
TheSportsPredictor
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That’s what I use. Just wanted to see what old CL was up to.
dixiehack
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It’s even harder to have faith now than it was in the paper ticket days, when you could at least look at the little pieces of cardboard and judge for yourself. If you aren’t using one of the sites to backstop you on legitimacy, there is essentially no way to tell whether the electrons sent to your phone are any good.
That was a really interesting story, and even more so that a few had the foresight that online classifieds would have a newspaper impact even as early as the late 90s. And people were like, yeah, whatever. Classified departments had more people in them than whole newsrooms do now. I know many of us experienced the internet coming of age to kill newspapers, but it is amazing how many of our bosses were like, yeah, whatever with it.
And then on the evolution of it all, it's crazy how CL is just dead now. It was always a simple forum, but obviously very popular.
FB Marketplace took the place of CL and was probably as big of a blow as anything to it. Actually does it better and likely with more reach (still tons of questionable dealings on there). I somewhat enjoy selling old crap, and if I could figure out a way to have a constant offering I might even make it more than a side hustle. For a while I used both at the same time, but I can't remember the last time I logged into CL.
Also, the tickets point is a good one. I used to go there tons for local tickets and got great deals, but it hasn't even crossed my mind to try there forever. The digital tickets and safety of those probably are the biggest reasons. As a season ticket holder to a few teams, it is just too easy to sell on their platforms too. I often would like to sell to a local fan or someone who really wants to go and maybe offer them a deal but it is such work. I can post on FB or something like that, but really there is no other outlet. And face it, most people who sell tickets are doing so to make money.
It was briefly touched on in that story, but ending the adult and dating classifieds likely really hurt CL too. Just the world we live in.
Overall, there isn't a lot of just local stuff anymore. But clearly there isn't a demand for something like CL. I guess local subreddits fill some gap. Who knows.
And then on the evolution of it all, it's crazy how CL is just dead now. It was always a simple forum, but obviously very popular.
FB Marketplace took the place of CL and was probably as big of a blow as anything to it. Actually does it better and likely with more reach (still tons of questionable dealings on there). I somewhat enjoy selling old crap, and if I could figure out a way to have a constant offering I might even make it more than a side hustle. For a while I used both at the same time, but I can't remember the last time I logged into CL.
Also, the tickets point is a good one. I used to go there tons for local tickets and got great deals, but it hasn't even crossed my mind to try there forever. The digital tickets and safety of those probably are the biggest reasons. As a season ticket holder to a few teams, it is just too easy to sell on their platforms too. I often would like to sell to a local fan or someone who really wants to go and maybe offer them a deal but it is such work. I can post on FB or something like that, but really there is no other outlet. And face it, most people who sell tickets are doing so to make money.
It was briefly touched on in that story, but ending the adult and dating classifieds likely really hurt CL too. Just the world we live in.
Overall, there isn't a lot of just local stuff anymore. But clearly there isn't a demand for something like CL. I guess local subreddits fill some gap. Who knows.
No newspapers decimated newspapers when they didn't fight for their classified ads. Everytime someone got robbed, killed or swindled using Craigslist that would have been plastered across the front page. And I would built a campaign around you gone trust us or an undocumented website? Choose safety over a few dollars.
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Don't blame Craigslist, blame Amazon.
In 2024 Amazon had ad sales of 56 billion dollars. First quarter 2025 ad sales were up 18%, which was about nine percent of sales.
Estimates for combined newspaper advertising sales in 2024 were 9.5 billion dollars. While Craigslist did a number on classifieds Amazon helped destroy co-op advertising.
An example of co-op advertising is my father used to manage an advertising budget for the company he worked for. He would go to his retail customers and give them money to include his products in their weekly newspaper ads. Now manufacturers would spend the money by getting a sponsored product placement on Amazon.
FWIW, Fox did seven billion in advertising revenues in the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2025. That included the election and the Super Bowl. That difference between the Amazon and Fox advertising revenue numbers, while not an apple to apple comparison, explain why I think televised sports is going to migrate to streamers.
In 2024 Amazon had ad sales of 56 billion dollars. First quarter 2025 ad sales were up 18%, which was about nine percent of sales.
Estimates for combined newspaper advertising sales in 2024 were 9.5 billion dollars. While Craigslist did a number on classifieds Amazon helped destroy co-op advertising.
An example of co-op advertising is my father used to manage an advertising budget for the company he worked for. He would go to his retail customers and give them money to include his products in their weekly newspaper ads. Now manufacturers would spend the money by getting a sponsored product placement on Amazon.
FWIW, Fox did seven billion in advertising revenues in the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2025. That included the election and the Super Bowl. That difference between the Amazon and Fox advertising revenue numbers, while not an apple to apple comparison, explain why I think televised sports is going to migrate to streamers.
Shropshire Slasher
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Direct mail also took its hunk of flesh. The Thanksgiving Day paper used to be the biggest of the year because of all the Black Friday ad slicks. Last Turkey Day before our traditional trail ride, I checked and the paper was no thicker than a normal Sunday edition.
Everybody knows that the newspaper industry suffered from a number of self-inflicted blows. I'm sure that almost everybody also has their bete noire.
For me, it was training readers not to pay for their news. What I pay on a daily rate for my New York Times subscription - 50 cents or so - is around the same what I'd spend decades ago without adjusting for inflation.
For me, it was training readers not to pay for their news. What I pay on a daily rate for my New York Times subscription - 50 cents or so - is around the same what I'd spend decades ago without adjusting for inflation.
Typist Clerk
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It was all of that.
Craigslist and eBay cannibalized the classified section.
Department store mergers and closings (Zayres, Venture, etc.) took full-page ads out of the front and feature sections and the ad slicks lessened. Some of that which was left went to direct mail.
Free news online was difficult to compete with, especially when it came from a reliable source (the local TV or radio station).
Smaller circulation meant fewer carriers running longer routes, a big reason outlying areas were dropped. Few wanted to drive 50 miles in farmland in winter to deliver 40 papers.
It's a death spiral for print and not a good outlook for deeply reported online. Newspapers had a great 300-year run, but competition was never a publisher's friend.
Craigslist and eBay cannibalized the classified section.
Department store mergers and closings (Zayres, Venture, etc.) took full-page ads out of the front and feature sections and the ad slicks lessened. Some of that which was left went to direct mail.
Free news online was difficult to compete with, especially when it came from a reliable source (the local TV or radio station).
Smaller circulation meant fewer carriers running longer routes, a big reason outlying areas were dropped. Few wanted to drive 50 miles in farmland in winter to deliver 40 papers.
It's a death spiral for print and not a good outlook for deeply reported online. Newspapers had a great 300-year run, but competition was never a publisher's friend.
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