How to Flag Postings on Craigslist – Small Business – Chron.com
If you see an inappropriate post on Craigslist, the popular classified advertising site used by individuals and businesses, you can flag it for removal. Do so whether it’s affecting you personally or interfering with your business. A Craigslist flag marks Craigslist advertising as inappropriate, and if enough people flag the ad, it will be automatically removed. You can also contact Craigslist about inappropriate content – or recommend posts for Best of Craigslist, a kind of Craigslist Hall of Fame. Understanding a Craigslist Flag Craigslist is a widely used classified advertising service with local websites in dozens of cities across the United States and the world. Users post ads for everything from job openings to yard sales to rooms for rent, many of them posted for free. While the site has plenty of legitimate and helpful content, it can also attract scammers and people offering illegal services, as well as products and services that just aren’t allowed on the site. For instance, Craigslist advertising isn’t allowed to market guns, burglary tools, people’s personal information or the opportunity to participate in affiliate marketing programs, even if they’re legal. If you see a banned or illegal post on Craigslist, you can flag it. To do so, click the link in the post that has the word “prohibited. ” Craigslist doesn’t promote exactly how many people in what situations need to flag a post for it to be removed, but doing so will help get the inappropriate post off the site. If you’re not sure whether a post is permitted or not, check the Craigslist Terms of Use page and the prohibited items list. Other Options for Banned Content Clicking the flag button isn’t your only option for inappropriate content on Craigslist. You can also contact the company if you see someone spamming, or over-posting, on Craigslist; if you see someone posting fraudulent material; or if someone is harassing you. Fill out a form linked from the Craigslist frequently asked questions page to report such activity. Craigslist also suggests that you can report scams or illegal activity to the authorities where you are, including to the U. S. Federal Trade Commission or your local police. The company advises being wary of giving financial information or wiring money to anyone you contact through its service and not to accept potentially fake cashiers checks or money orders. You should also be cautious of renting an apartment sight-unseen on Craigslist, in case it’s a scam, and avoid any reference to a Craigslist voicemail service, which the company doesn’t actually provide. Also, whether you’re buying, selling, renting or hiring on Craigslist, you should take steps to stay safe, including not being alone with previously unknown buyers or sellers. Copyright and Intellectual Property If a Craigslist post is infringing on your copyright, you can report it to Craigslist under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act by email or postal mail. Include details of the post and infringement, and a statement under penalty of perjury that it’s violating your rights. Users who repeatedly violate copyright can be banned from the site. Mistakenly Flagged Posts If you post an ad on Craigslist and you believe it was inappropriately flagged, there is a forum you can post on for advice and guidance from Craigslist staff and other users. Depending on the situation, you may receive guidance on how the post violated the rules so you can avoid such problems in the future or get help having it reinstated. Best of Craigslist In addition to flagging a Craigslist post as inappropriate, you can flag it for the Best of Craigslist hall of fame. To do so, simply click the “best of” link near the bottom of a Craigslist post. These can include posts that are funny, heartwarming or otherwise memorable. The company advises you to note that voting for a post for the “Best of Craigslist” collection doesn’t offset flags against it or otherwise protect it from removal, and notes that posts that get repeatedly nominated for “Best of Craigslist” for no particular reason can be removed. The “Best of Craigslist” posts are also subject to review by site staff.
How to Flag a Posting on Craigslist – ItStillWorks
In the Craigslist online community, all users are permitted to flag any ads that violate the website’s Terms of Use or posting guidelines. This self-moderating system works to single out inappropriate postings by determining how many flags an ad receives. According to the Craigslist Help page, “free classified ads receiving a sufficient number of qualified negative flags are subject to automated removal. ” Other postings, like forum postings and paid ads that receive enough flags are subject to further review. Step 1Navigate your Web browser to Step 2Locate the posting you want to flag. Click on the link to the posting to view the posting in full. Step 3Locate the flag options box in the upper-right corner of the Web page. The box is situated under the “Email This Posting to a Friend” link. Step 4Click the “Miscategorized” flag link if the post is in the wrong category or site, or if it discusses another posting. Step 5Click the “Prohibited” flag link if the posting breaches “Terms of Use” or other site guidelines, such as content that is “unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, or is harmful to minors in any way, ” or content that violates federal or state laws. Step 6Click the “Spam/Overpost” flag link if the posting appears too frequently on Craigslist, appears in multiple cities and/or categories or if the posting is too commercial. References Writer Bio KR Knowlin has worked extensively in the theatre in numerous capacities. Past credits include: “Stop Kiss” (Director, Center Stage Productions), “Phaedra’s Love”(Director, Chapel Theatre), “Quills” (Sound Engineer, Spoleto Festival USA: Piccolo Spoleto ’09), “Mind’s I” (Sound Designer, Spoleto Festival USA: Piccolo Spoleto ’09), “Paternal Eternal” (Playwright, Spoleto Festival USA: Piccolo Spoleto ’08) to name a few.
5 Strategies to Prevent Getting Flagged on Craigslist
The Costs & Benefits of Craigslist Advertising
There’s no question that car dealers see huge benefits from advertising their inventory on Craigslist. Dealers who post their new and used cars on Craigslist can successfully drive direct traffic to their website and gain leads from telephone calls and online contact forms. But Craigslist marketing can also cost you: dealers have to find time to manually post their cars and optimize how regularly they re-post. Preventing listings from getting flagged is another major problem for many managers, and it becomes costly for dealerships to repost ads on a daily basis. On top of getting your posts flagged and removed by random Craigslist users, you also have to be wary of competitors who may use black hat tactics like a program to automatically flag Craigslist posts. To avoid having your Craigslist posts flagged, follow these best practice strategies.
Strategy #1: Spread Out Your Craigslist Posting Over Several Days
Depending on your target area, every one of your posts stays live between 7-45 days. For dealerships with a large inventory of cars, it’s best to set up a schedule to spread out your Craigslist posting over several days. This practice regulates the frequency of posting, and prevents flooding Craigslist with your posts, which is often the key reason why listings are flagged for removal or “ghosted”. When a post is ghosted, it means Craigslist receives the listing but does not post it live on the website. A post can also get flagged or ghosted if you list a car that already has a live ad, so it’s best to keep track of your vehicles over a period of time before you post it.
Strategy #2: Post Less Than Your Full Inventory
If you’re trying to post your entire inventory on Craigslist, then your posts will most likely get flagged. Smaller car dealers can get away with listing their entire inventory on Craigslist if they have anywhere between 20 to 100 cars and distribute their posts across different areas and over several days. Larger auto dealers using Craigslist will need to patiently post a fraction of their full inventory during each period, and list a maximum of 80% of their used inventory.
Strategy #3: Use Multiple Unique IP Addresses
Craigslist automatically monitors the IP addresses of where posts originate, so if they notice that too many posts are coming from the same IP, then those listings will get flagged for removal. Craigslist does this to prevent one person from spamming their site with too many ads at once. Many car dealers at single locations only have one IP address to work with, so using the same IP address to post on Craigslist is often the cause of flagged posts. To aggressively advertise on Craigslist, you will need use multiple unique IP addresses. You can do this manually, or make use of an automated Craigslist posting service to do it for you.
Strategy #4: Post At Random Times and Strategize for High Traffic Days
Aggressive competitors from the same area may try to use an automated Craigslist flagging program to have your listings taken down. But to use these programs, they’ll have to find and insert the specific URL of the listing into the program. When you post early in the morning or late at night, you make it more difficult for people to directly target your posts. You can post at random times before high traffic days like Friday, Saturday and Sundays to avoid getting flagged by competitors. This also helps you target the days when many customers are on Craigslist searching for cars.
Strategy #5: Use Non-Identifiable Text and Vary Your URLs
The only way an automatic flagging program works is if it has your Craigslist post URL. Others can find your Craigslist posts by doing direct searches for your dealership’s name in the body of your listings. If you include your dealership’s name in either a URL or text-based content within your posts, then those listings have a chance of getting targeted by anyone trying to flag your posts. Instead, use image-based templates that include your dealership name, phone number, and location. Car buyers searching for specific car models can still see everything in your ad, but make it harder for anyone specifically trying to search for your dealership.
The Complete Solution: Using an Automated Craigslist Posting Service
These five strategies can dramatically decrease how often your Craigslist posts are flagged. The longer your listings stay live, the less time you spend posting each and every car in your inventory. Auto dealers that have a large inventory will naturally see higher costs to listing their cars on Craigslist, because it takes more time to deploy these strategies to make sure your posts stay online. For this reason, many large dealerships have chosen to pay for Craigslist posting services. The best Craigslist posting services are systems that help make sure most of your inventory is posted without getting removed or ghosted. Larger dealers who want to optimize selling cars on Craigslist often find that these distribution services are more cost-effective compared to manually listing and monitoring posts one car at a time.
Autofusion only posts on Craigslist for car dealerships.
Frequently Asked Questions about flag craigslist post
How do I flag someone’s post on Craigslist?
How to Flag a Posting on CraigslistNavigate your Web browser to Craigslist.org.Locate the posting you want to flag. … Locate the flag options box in the upper-right corner of the Web page. … Click the “Miscategorized” flag link if the post is in the wrong category or site, or if it discusses another posting.More items…
Does Craigslist automatically flag posts?
Craigslist automatically monitors the IP addresses of where posts originate, so if they notice that too many posts are coming from the same IP, then those listings will get flagged for removal. Craigslist does this to prevent one person from spamming their site with too many ads at once.
Can you see who flagged you on Craigslist?
Although it isn’t possible to find the specific individual who “flags” a Craigslist ad for removal, knowing an ad was flagged allows you to review the content of the ad and change it to fall in line with Craigslist’s Terms of Use.
