

Craigslist’s Challenger Could Be an App, or Several - ed
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/07/craigslists-challenger-could-be-an-app-or-several/

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malandrew
Marketplace data would be best if it were fully decentralized.

At a company I am doing software consulting for we've been building bits and
pieces of a distributed scraper and one of the ideas we see as a possible
approach to solving these data silos is the equivalent of generalized "bit
torrent for API data". So long as your service does not publish the
copyrightable content gathered via API data or at least does so in a way that
respects the DMCA requirements, you are pretty much free any clear, since a
bittorrent approach would completely absolve you from agreeing to any terms of
use and the distributed approach would absolve you from a trespass to chattels
lawsuit. Between those two and the Feist vs. Rural ruling, I cannot think of
any defense a company could mount.

Near as I can tell both Twitter and Craigslist (among many many others) are
all vulnerable to this data collection vector.

If this problem sounds interesting to you, shoot me an email (in my profile).
I know they are hiring.

~~~
paulgb
I think CL abandoned the trespass to chattels argument when PadMapper switched
to 3taps. Couldn't CL file DMCA requests given the exclusivity agreement they
now have with their users?

I agree that marketplace data should be decentralized. I hope it works out for
you.

~~~
dangrossman
Facts aren't protected by copyright, and PadMapper only distributes facts (#
of bedrooms, location and price). It doesn't copy the CL post title,
description or photos which would be protected. I don't think there's any
copyright infringement to serve a DMCA request against, but I'm no lawyer.

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brudgers
Craigslist continues to succeed in part because they define their own vision
of success (one which would probably not receive Series A funding) and because
that vision aligns closely with the interests of those who use it (rather than
Series A funders).

However, its success is in no small part because it has mapped itself onto
natural markets (i.e. MSA's) with a simple format that scales up to Denver and
down to Dothan. It's reached critical mass.

Sure there are probably enough iPhone users in Boston to create a marketplace
from an app. But that's probably not the case in North Platte Nebraska.

Craigslist works because it is community based, and somewhat akin to a public
service. People can access Craigslist on the computers at their public
library, and no app can compete with that. No app can reach the sort of
critical mass to compete with classified ads 1.0, let alone with version 2.

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seagreen
One way to disrupt companies like Craigslist would be to build disseminator
sites that would allow you to post to multiple places at one. So instead of
the system being:

post on craigslist --> data to craigslists servers --> people view it on
craigslist

It would look more like:

Post on disseminator --> data goes to craigslist, padmapper, etc. and a public
database --> people view it on craigslist, padmapper, or their favourite
aggregator.

If anyone's interested in similar ideas, email me! I'd love to talk about it.

~~~
dangrossman
Most of the real estate listings are already coming through such services.
They're no longer permissible under Craigslist's current TOS as you must grant
CL an _exclusive_ license to your posting.

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sharkweek
There are dozens of services better or at least arguably capable of being
better than Craigslist, but their stranglehold on the online classifieds
market has made it extremely difficult for anyone to snipe their users; I go
to Craigslist because everyone else goes to Craigslist.

Another problem is their lack of concern for the bottom line. Craigslist
functions off of plenty of revenue, but they aren't trying to maximize it at
all. You're not forced to pay for 99% of their service, nor are you inundated
with ads on every page.

Craigslist "got there first" and now millions of people like my dad are used
to the interface, and refuse to switch.

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justin_vanw
What about Craigslist's model makes it necessary for it to be proprietary?

Is there any reason not to build a classifieds system (or just a classifieds
license) that is open and free? Sure, you can make money using that data, but
only with a share-alike license that anyone using classifieds from others must
also make their classifieds available for use?

~~~
seagreen
One reason (playing devil's advocate here) might be to protect people's
privacy. Maybe I don't like the clientele at Padmapper or Ebay for whatever
reason, and I'd prefer my listings to stay on the site I posted them.

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pbreit
_Why has no upstart knocked Craigslist from its perch, despite its outdated
design and failure to work nicely with others?_

Is there a rule that when you read the word "despite" it usually means
"because of"?

