The web empire that has wrecked newspaper business models across the world, Craigslist, has just got bigger. Its founder, Craig Newmark, quietly announced two days ago on his blog: "Well, we just added what looks like 120 new cities, bringing it to 570, I think. (gotta confirm) This includes Ramallah." I love those trademark Newmark touches - gotta confirm... choosing to mention Ramallah.
As Seamus McCauley remarks, that probably amounts to a 27% expansion of Craiglist's global footprint and "immediately introduces a major competitive threat to newspaper publishers and any other media businesses relying on a paid classified advertising model, online or off, in those 120 cities." It surely does.
I see that there are 27 separate sites covering Britain now, presenting a continuing challenge to regional papers that rely so heavily on revenue from classified ads. It looks to me as if there are seven new UK additions: Bath, Coventry, Derby, Dundee, Essex, Kent, Nottingham.
