Monday, February 2, 2009

Whatever Happened to Free Classified Ads

By Alex Wu

There have been free classified ads for a long time. People try to sell anything from kittens to dump trucks. Many people buy these second hand treasures they find in the free classified ads. Where can you post Classified Ads for free?

Do you think cavemen drawings were ever ads to trade things? The first ad ever found was written on a stone in Pompeii. It is believed that the stone had a community notice on it. Classified ads like we have today came to be in the 15th century.

There are regional shopper papers where you can post things for free. These papers span large community areas, each having their own circular district. You can find them in rural areas, suburbs, and in the inner city. Theis is one of the few places you can still advertise for free. The ads are sometimes classified as "The Thirifties"

With the introduction of the Internet, free advertising is highly desirable for people building web sites. If you want to advertise in some free ad papers, some insist that you place your ad on the Internet too. You still see advertisements in public places posted up on boards or walls in grocery stores, schools, bars and churches.

Radio advertisement to auction things off in a community has been around for long time. The seller or trader phones into the radio station to tell the radio announcer what he has for sell or what he or she is looking to buy. People advertise anything from coin collection to a horse. This is a very popular venue for sales and it is free to post ads.

The first commercial advertisements on the Internet were in 2000. To get on the Internet you had to be sponsored. It was difficult for the seller to advertise their product. Not long after that, the Internet became a big shopping store. There are thousands of web sites selling products. You may get some free advertising for a short amount of time after which you will have pay for it.

There is also Craig's list that will advertise anything. Craig's list has everything and all the ad posts are free. Craig Newmark was brainiac that started this site. Craig's list evolved in 1995 and it soon became very popular when the news spread that you could get free advertising. At first Craig's list advertised social event and local Industries in San Francisco. Craig's initial intention for the site was for it to be a mailing list.

Advertising on the Internet has become collasal. Businesses' often will partner with another or many others so they can advertise on their web site and vice versa. This buddy system is used often between several sites.

Some engineers from Google developed the ad words system. With the development of Ad Words marketers can drive potential consumers to their web site. If you want to get on the bandwagon and try selling on the Internet there are many free classified web sites. You can start up with an Internet business and get some free advertising but that soon fizzles out and you end up payin for it. The first sale from an Ad Word campaign sold live red lobsters.

Another kind of de facto advertising is Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia on line. You can find information about everything. It is kind of a copycat of "Nu pedia" and Wikipedia quickly took over this venue. Wikipedia is global and in several languages. A few places for free classified ads still remain and are widely utilized; especially on the Internet. - 16039

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