Facebook.com
Oodle
As Facebook began it’s rapid expansion a couple years ago, with their plethora of features as well as opening the site up to everyone (not just college students), I thought to myself that a classified listing service integrated into a user’s profile/account would be the next logical step for the social network. Think about it, people have a lot of stuff they want to either buy or sell, as witnessed by Craigslist. None more so then students, who represented the majority of the site’s user base at the time. Of course Facebook reading my mind (who wouldn’t, I’m a pretty smart guy) implemented such a feature, dubbing it ‘Marketplace’ and allowing users to post listings in their networks and have the listing subsequently appear in their newsfeed and profile. However, something seemed off about the entire thing, which is evident in the number of user listings. The numbers just didn’t add up to what they should’ve been given the vast userbase and the nature of the site in relation to the feature being implement; basically you expect there to be wide use of a service that’s in line with the interests of its users. This could only be explained by a poor implementation of the feature by Facebook.
Luckily, Facebook realized this and just a few days ago announced a deal with Oodle, a classified listing service trying to compete with the 800-pound gorilla of the market; CraigsList. Many have tried, but even more have failed at dethroning a staple of the web since the 90’s. Oodle, however, seems to be undettered and is still hanging around while many of its competitors have given up. The deal essentially means that the Facebook marketplace will be run entirely by Oodle software, which will hopefully do a much better job then Facebook’s in-house built marketplace did.
The jury is still out if Facebook can really capitilize on gigantic userbase and offer a classified service to rival that of CraigsList. The service is expected to launch (re-launch?) sometime early next year so I’ll be keeping a close eye on it.
[...] Have you ever walked in your house/apartment and said to your self “Hmmm, I wish I could sell that?” and not worry about if someone will rip you off. Pretty soon you will be able to post classifieds on Facebook. With this feature you can see who is buying your “stuff” without any fears. We all know Craigslist is the big dog in this category but as of late people are more skeptical of Craigslist. There are rumors floating out there that Facebooks classifieds will overpower Craigslist due to their gigantic userbase. Lets wait and see. If you would like to read more about click here. [...]