For more than a century, the classifieds business was dominated by newspapers. In the offline world of days now long gone and forgotten, it was wildly lucrative, accounting for a significant portion of the publishing business revenue. There were even numerous independent classified ads publications, either free or paid, which attracted both readership and advertising revenue.

Everything changed in 1995, on the eve of the digital revolution. It was that year that Craigslist was launched. Today, this online classifieds giant is estimated to cost tens of millions to operate, while also generating hundreds of millions in revenue.

While online publishing has sucked dollars out of the pockets of offline classified publications, it was good news for an average classified user. Since the cost of posting on the Internet is very low, online classifieds websites can allow users to post and respond to ads free of charge.

The real problem with free classifieds today, both for classifieds website owners and their users, is not the cost of operation, but rather the question of “being found” among the myriad free ads in the jungle. What is the Internet today? And it’s a big deal!

The solution to this growing problem of “being found on the Internet” seems to elude even the most seasoned Internet marketers and offline advertising experts. That led some to proclaim the death of the classifieds business model. However, they were probably too quick to write them off.

Online ads certainly have some serious advantages over offline ones. They are not charged per line, they can be longer. Once published, they are usually activated almost instantly. Unlike their print counterparts, they are searchable.

What can we expect from classified ads in the future? Well, they are yet to respond to social networks, something that is changing the Internet before our eyes. Giving ads a “social layer” could breathe new blood into the old industry. An important advantage that online advertising has over traditional advertising, but which has not yet been fully exploited, is real-time performance monitoring.

In recent times, an increasing number of new classified ads have emerged, some offering hyper-local listings, while others cover the entire world. Niche classifieds offer everything under the sun, specializing in anything from business or personal opportunities, to boats or pets.

Despite the growing pains, it looks like the world of online classifieds is driving! Classified advertising has a long history, and it’s definitely not…history yet.