Unlike the other sites reviewed here, Craigslist.org is not specifically a dating site. Instead, it is a fully-featured online personals section run as a non-profit organization.
Craigslist.com was initially created to list events local to San Francisco, but quickly expanded to include such categories as personals ads and auto sales. This was the extent of Craigslist.org until January 2000, when current CEO Jim Buckmaster was hired as lead programmer and CTO. Under his leadership, the site layout was redone, self-posting was added, and the site expanded to a multi-city architecture.
Craigslist.org has insisted on remaining banner free (Aside from an April fools joke in 2002) and free for use, only charging employers to post help wanted ads.
Despite its many benefits and devotees, Craigslist.org has not avoided all controversies. In 2005, Craigslist.org was accused of encouraging overbreeding and irresponsible sales of pit-bulls for allowing breeders to post ads on the site. Also, Craigslist.org was sued in February 2006 by the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law for allegedly allowing users to post ads for homes that allegedly violate the fair housing act. The outcome has not yet been announced.
Craigslist.org cooperated with police in matters stemming from the casual encounters section. There have been several stings and arrests for prostitution charges. While Craigslist.org states that they can not and will not police the site, but they allow users to flag offending posts for administrative review.
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
Amazing Profiles