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Kawasaki Chiaki

What is Craiglist.org?

The Craigslist Network

Craigslist Financials

Craigslist Controversy

Originally a San Francisco community electronic newsletter

Craigslist.org is now one of the most visited English language Web sites, with local classifieds for more than 450 cities worldwide

The site’s main function is to host classified ads that cover practically every category

Each craigslist site focuses on a specific community. Originally, craigslist only listed classifieds and announcements within San Francisco. As the service grew in popularity, expanding well beyond founder Craig Newmark's original concept, craigslist added other cities to its network. The first city to join the network was Boston in 2000. A couple of months later, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Portland, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, D.C. followed suit. Today, more than 450 cities have a craigslist community site.

Craigslist started as a pet project but blossomed into a full-fledged company. In 1999, craigslist incorporated as a for-profit organization. The company also purchased the domain craigslist.com to prevent anyone from buying it and misleading craigslist members.

Each year since then, craigslist has expanded to cover more cities and communities, becoming a powerful financial force in the process.

One of the biggest challenges for the craigslist community is weeding out scam artists. The site has a section describing common scam tactics and what users should do if they come across them.