Craigslist To Make $100 Million in 2009
By Anna Johnson on June 17th, 2009According to the Classified Intelligence Report, a publication of AIM Group, Internet classified advertisements company, Craigslist, is set to earn more than $100 million in revenue in 2009.
This revenue projection is 23 percent higher than its estimated 2008 revenue and a massive jump up from the $9 million it was thought to earn in 2004.
Craigslist, which is a private company (24 percent owned by eBay, Inc.) and not obliged to publicly release its financial results, didn’t comment on AIM Group’s projections.
Jim Townsend, editorial director of AIM Group, said, however, that the figures were based on counting the number of paid ads on the site for a month and extrapolating an annual figure. In fact, AIM Group said its projections were conservative.
What is particularly impressive about Craigslist’s revenue performance is that many of the ads on its site are free.
People and companies can post free classified online ads in 570 cities around the world, while in 18 major American cities, the company charges recruiters $25 (or in San Francisco, $75) to place a help-wanted ad. In New York, Craigslist charges real estate brokers $10 to post individual listings for apartments and houses. The company also charges for ads in its ‘adult services’ category.
AIM Group’s revenue projections are based on recruitment ads accounting for more than 80 percent of Craigslist’s revenue, and the remainder from housing ads in New York.
Unsurprisingly, Craigslist’s most lucrative markets are New York City (set to make the company $17.7 million in 2009) and San Francisco (expected to earn $14.4 million in revenues).
Source: Brad Stone, “Revenue at Craigslist Is Said to Top $100 Million,” The New York Times, June 9, 2009
