Oodle Vs. Craigslist
The world of online shopping is much more social and personal than it was at the dawn on the Internet age. In addition to online commercial retail, many websites exist to facilitate the exchange of services and used goods between individuals. Oodle and Craigslist are two of these websites; both provide access to classified ads based around very different operational models. Craiglist, founded in 1995, is 10 years older than Oodle.
Other People Are Reading
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Services
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The services offered by both Oodle and Craigslist are generally similar. Both websites connect buyers with sellers for a variety of different items, ranging from kitchenware to houses. Both sites also feature community services designed to assist you in finding activity companions, romantic partners and kindred spirits. In this sense, they are both very social in nature, though Oodle bears a much stronger link to popular social networking sites and their functionality. Oodle functions mostly as an aggregator of classified ads, whereas Craigslist postings are largely generated directly by its users, and the site is a destination.
Facebook Integration
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Oodle's service is well-integrated with Facebook. It powers the Facebook Marketplace application, where users can buy and sell items. Furthermore, Oodle's stand-alone website relies on a user's Facebook data to track the trends of friends and connect potential buyers and sellers. Craigslist is not linked to any social networking sites. Because of this, Craiglist's interactions are often more anonymous in nature and focus less on the social connections that lead to an exchange.
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Partnership with Other Sites
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Oodle creates its listings from many external sites. In addition to Facebook, listings can come from sites such as eBay, ForRent.com and Match.com. The Oodle Pro service allows companies to link their sites and reputations from other social networks to Oodle, thereby increasing visibility. Craigslist has no explicit partnerships with other sites. Occasionally, a Craigslist user may post an ad on Craigslist that is also posted on other websites. However, this process is not seamless, and a majority of Craigslist's listings exist only on the Craigslist site.
Advertisements and Appearance
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Oodle features a number of advertisements that help generate revenue for the site. Most of the ads are powered by Google. Certain users and institutions have paid listings on Oodle, which promotes the listing's visibility. To an extent, Craigslist's revenue comes from paid listings as well, though these are less of a presence on Craigslist than on Oodle. Because of Oodle's ties to many external sites and social networking streams, it's much more image-based than Craigslist. Oodle features pictures of items and sellers, while Craigslist's only images come from user postings. Otherwise, Craigslist is formatted in a relatively minimal style.
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References
- Mixergy; "If You're The Challenger, You Have To Play A Different Game" -- with Craig Donato; Andrew Warner; November 2009
- Online Personals Watch; Oodle CEO, Craig Donato - OPW Interview; Mark Brooks; August 2007
- Search Engine Journal; Craigslist Blocking Oodle : Destination vs.Aggregation; Greg Sterling
- Sign On San Diego; Study: Craigslist revenue to climb 23 pct to $100M; Michael Liedtke; June 2009
Resources
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
