Kijiji, a free classified ads site attempting to rival Craigslist, is taking a cheap shot at Craigslist by publicizing the results of a one-sided survey.
According to the survey, which was commissioned by eBay, “Three in four U.S. adults (75%) said they prefer to buy or sell items from a Web site that does not host erotic ads or adult services, and more than half (53%) of consumers said they would prefer that a family member use a site without such listings.”
Not surprisingly, the results are completely spurious, as they were ginned up by the way the questions were asked. Kijiji’s spokeswoman was kind enough to send me the questions, and I’m posting them so you can judge for yourself:
1. Which of the following have ever kept you from using classified-ad websites like Craigslist? Say “yes” to all those that apply.
1) Classified ads that have adult content
2) Someone might use my email address for spam
3) Classified ads may be misleading or fraudulent
4) Fear of getting a computer virus
5) None of the above
6) I don’t use these sites
2. Are you more or less likely to use a classified-ad website to buy or sell something if you know this website also has erotic ads or adult services?
1) Much more likely
2) Somewhat more likely
3) Somewhat less likely
4) Much less likely
3. Would you be concerned about a family member posting an ordinary item for sale on a classified-ad website that also has erotic ads or adult services?
1) Yes – definitely
2) Yes – probably
3) No – probably not
4) No – definitely not
Now here are my questions:
1) Which of the following would keep you from buying stuff on eBay?
1) The awful PayPal user experience.
2) The fact that eBay now treats buyers and sellers with equal contempt.
3) The fact that eBay gives increasing preference to the “Buy Now” option.
4) The fact that eBay engages in unethical behavior towards competitors by commissioning slanted polls.
The reality of Craigslist’s success belies those poll results. Nearly 50 million U.S. residents use Craigslist, which publishes more than 50 million new classified ads each month, spanning local sites for over 700 cities and 70 countries.
Kijiji claims to have local sites in more than a thousand cities, with over 220 in the U.S. alone, but gets just 7 million unique visitors per month and some 400,000 new ads. Compare the results of the two sites and you’ll see just how meager Kijiji’s marketplace really is “” here is Kijiji’s marketplace for books in New York City (253 books for sale at the time of writing), and here’s the same for Craigslist (over 600 current listings).
And here’s the kicker: Craigslist saw a 12 percent increase in search queries from April to May of this year, while eBay experienced a 3 percent drop in search queries during the same period.
If you’re wondering why eBay is taking dead aim at Craigslist when it’s so clearly eating the market leader’s dust, it has to do with the history of acrimony between the two companies that began when eBay bought 28 percent of Craigslist in 2004, took a seat at Craigslist’s board of directors, and then launched a competing site.
Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster responded by reorganizing the company’s structure, leading to suits and counter-suits.
And if you’re wondering what Kijiji means, it’s “village” in Swahili. There’s another word in Swahili that the folks at eBay should learn, and it’s adabu. It means civility. As in, “those folks at eBay kijiji don’t got no adabu.”
By Michael Hickins
September 28, 2009
source: thefastertimes.com
Image source: Photo by alfredo_p_51 via Webshots