It’s with a heavy heart that I must announce that PadMapper is no longer including Craigslist rental listings – they’re currently being wiped from the search index. I recently received a Cease and Desist letter from Craigslist, and wasn’t able to get a meeting or convince Craigslist’s lawyer that PadMapper was beneficial to Craigslist and apartment hunters in general. They allow mobile apps to display their listings if you buy a license from them, but not websites.
If you or any of your friends that PadMapper has helped would like to weigh in and tell them how PadMapper has helped you search through Craigslist, you can contact them at:
jim@craigslist.org – Jim Buckmaster, CEO
craig@craigslist.org – Craig Newmark, Founder
If you do contact them, please, please keep it civil. Perhaps if they see how many people PadMapper has helped, they’ll be willing to consider changing their minds.
PadMapper still has a lot of other sources, I’ll be adding more, and I’ll keep mapping pads, but it’s a sad day for pad mapping and apartment hunting. Craigslist is a really important source of apartment listings, and I hope we can get it back someday.
Thanks everyone,
Eric ☮
UPDATE: Many of you have asked me how you can post to PadMapper now that Craigslist is gone. I just posted about PadLister, a completely free way to post directly to PadMapper. I still want to get Craigslist back on there, but in the meantime, it’d be great if you guys could encourage any landlords you know to post their vacancies on PadLister as well (they should, of course, continue to post on Craigslist). Alternately, you can post to Oodle, RentalHomesPlus, Rent.com, ApartmentFinder, or one of the more local sources PadMapper picks up. Of these, Oodle is also free.
UPDATE 2:
If your area is looking empty without CList, you may want to enable Rent.com’s listings to show up. Look under “Show More Filters” and check that on if it’s not.
UPDATE 3:
I’m bringing Craigslist listings back! Here’s the blog post.
no thank you. this tool was so helpful to a clueless new resident.
email sent. i hope they can work something out…..
I actually tried to use Padmapper to find a new apartment in Manhattan but it was a useless effort and Craigslist ads were actually the worst. It’s annoying because you reply to ads that you see on the map in a location/price you want only to be told that those didn’t actually exist. It’s not too much different than brokers leaving listings of OLD apartments on their sites just to get you to call them so they can tell you that they have no control over their own website. Oddly enough, HotPad had a lot of different apartment listings.
Why you don’t try to use backpage real estate ads (since they have to pay to post those, iirc) is beyond me.
Anyways, I really liked Padmapper and have told a few people to use it (no one has found a place thru it yet) and hopefully it works out when I look for a place next spring.
You actually gained a user by removing Craigslist.
Thanks.
I found an apartment on Padmapper a couple of months ago, and it was a Craigslist listing that showed up on Padmapper.
I wrote a civil email to Jim and Craig.
This is what can happen when you hire your CEO based on an engineering resume posted on Craigslist. You might end up with a completely irrational, hypocritical product and business strategy based on bizarre principals.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/08/06/100141309/index.htm
If CL maintains this stance, we can only hope they will slowly be witled at until the critical mass has shifted away.
Craig’s altruism is admirable, but frankly he is not – as he claims states – responsive to user needs and requests.
Will you purchase a mobile license to keep that running?
The CL TOU has an exception for “general purpose Internet search engines”. Did they reference any specific violations of the TOU?
So how does HousingMaps.com get away with it? Because it doesn’t have a business model? email sent to craig and jim.
Really sorry to hear this news. You’ve really built a fantastic tool here, and I’ll definitely keep checking it, Craigslist or no . I’ve already e-mailed Craig and Jim – I doubly encourage everyone who loves this site to do so as well.
That’s too bad. I’ve done my small part and sent an email to Jim and Craig. Until craigslist changes their mind on this one, I will not be using craigslist. Having other websites use their data is to craigslist benefit. Boggles the mind.
Successful Craigslist rental deals will be going down down down now.
Ditto with mon-mon. Email sent. Thanks for all your hard and awesome work Eric.
fuck craigslist.. foolish.. dumbasses.. hope they die…
wait you said to keep it civil… I hope they succeed at dying a slow death.
Why would Craigslist stick a knife in itself?
Acts like this and others similar are why Craigslist is in decline.
ZOMG WHAT?????
Sending e-mail NOW.
nooooooo
I cannot believe the stupidity in the comments at hacker news saying PM got what it deserved. I support PM all the way, it’s been critical to finding places, CL’s interface is retarded. I’m going to start contacting listing holders and ask them to move to another service. CL’s interface is 100% busted when it comes to searching for housing.
OH NO! WHAT WILL I DO!? You need Craigslist! WE need it. They provide a bulk of the postings, especially for people who want to rent directly from an owner without dealing with a 3rd party *cough* ridiculous broker fees *cough cough*. Posters recognize the Craiglist name, and it’s their go-to site when advertising their apartments.
Well, I’m sure you know all that, and I am still deeply in love with PadMapper. If you guys break up with Craigslist, I will choose you. I’ve been apartment hunting for 3 months now, and I remember the day I met you. How could I forget? I was so excited about all the features. I told everyone I knew about you. I even told strangers on Reddit. I loved everything about PadMapper, from my PadMapper profile to the new option that shows nearby groceries, gyms, etc. I was sad to see the % above/below neighborhood average go, but I still supported you. PadMapper really takes all my frustrations and anxieties out of apartment hunting in a big city that I am 2,500 miles away from.
I sent Eric and Jim emails singing your praises and claiming that I will continue to use PadMapper over Craigslist, but you should really get back together. You two were a beautiful couple and you integrated their listings and presented them in a way that was so accessible it seemed sinful. I hope you two can work it out.
I’m going to go have a drink to take the edge off. I’m quite upset.
Sooo bummed. Also sent them an email (a nice one). Boo.
Emailed! I hope they reconsider.
[…] Craigslist: Craigslist: Why did Craigslist send PadMapper a cease and desist letter?https://blog.padmapper.com/2012/0…Post Add AnswerBIU @ UpdateLink to […]
I’ve written an email to them in support. Good luck!
Ouch. Padmapper is an extremely useful tool and it sucks to see it lose Craigslist. Especially useful if you wanted to look in a particular neighborhood.
I hope a bit of press urges them to change their minds. Voted up on HackerNews and Reddit.
So sad! This is my #1 tool for looking for a place to rent. Without it my search will take 10 times more painful!!
Emailed Craig lol. My roommates and I are looking for a 4-6br in certain neighborhoods which is very difficult and time consuming to do on craigslist. Padmapper makes it easy. Bad call on their part.
I have sent an email as well. This site is great tool for rental hunters and rental owners/managers.
c**nts!!
Copy of the letter I sent to the guys at CL:
Hi guys,
I’m a longtime user of Craigslist (since 2003) and I’m writing to tell you how gravely disappointed and upset I am at your recent decision to issue a cease-and-desist order to Padmapper. Disallowing Padmapper to continue to provide a service that has saved me literally hundreds of hours house-hunting (and that’s just one person and two moves) is a terrible business move.
Over the years I have found it EXTREMELY frustrating that Craigslist does not break down the Austin, TX housing market by neighborhood (as they apparently do in the SF Bay area, I recently learned) and as a direct result of this lack of specificity and a true “max rent” search feature, CL users are bombarded with unwanted listings each time they search- spam, unrelated services, realtors, apartment hunters, big-box condos and complexes, and dozens of other categories of irrelevant garbage that takes hours and hours of dedicated searching to navigate. Enter Padmapper. This brilliant, free service took public information (your listings and others) and made an easy to navigate and easy to use search feature out of what was heretofore almost certainly one of Dante’s inner circles of hell.
I am currently preparing to move across the country and I am flirting with despair considering that I will be forced to spend dozens or hundreds of hours mapping CL listings myself in a city with which I am not very familiar. Please allow Padmapper to continue being an AMAZING, USEFUL, BRILLIANT and SANITY-SAVING supplement to Craigslist. It only helps your site. I predict based on the fact that this news broke less than an hour ago and it’s already crashing the Padmapper server that you’re about to have a LOT of VERY upset people on your hands. Please reconsider!
Sincerely,
Liz Butler
Padmapper is a really good app but unfortunately craigslist does get a lot of spam especially when it comes to apartment hunting. Most places listed on craigslist don’t offer pictures or phone numbers and when you try to contact them via email you never receive a response. I’m glad in a way that its not going to be listed. Craigslist really needs to deal with the amount of false postings they have listed everyday.
I am SO sad!! I’ve found my last two homes this way and am on the search again! As if searching for a new home isn’t hard enough. Email sent! Good luck to you (and to those of us who need homes and are now down a resource)!
I heart padmapper.com! I am very sad as Padmapper was an essential tool in relocating to a new city. I will continue to use it but know that Craigslist was a major loss. Civil e-mail sent. 🙂 Thanks for all your help!
I never email on things like this.
But this time I did.
PadMapper helped us find our current place in NYC which was hard enough as it was. Without PadMapper I can’t imagine. Good luck!
I’m sad to hear about this. PadMapper definitely helped locate homes available for rent, linking us to view ads listed on Craigslist. Sad to hear Craiglist decided to do this.
sending email right now
Bummer! The only decent way to sort through craigslist ads. Email sent.
I used padmapper about 6 months ago and its a godsend! i can’t believe craiglist is doing this.. its a freeservice anyways! what do they care???? anybody say STupiDDDD???
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
That’s why I see less apartments in my search hmm.. this was such a good tool, I was ending up on craigslist via padmapper anyways so it’s not like they were losing traffic if anything gaining more.
This sucks. How am I supposed to find my next place? I would have not even visited or browsed so many Craigslist ads had I not been to your site.
I emailed ’em. G’luck!
PadMapper, thanks for tying in Craigslist with PadMapper. It’s unfortunate that they ordered a seize and desist, but honestly I found the map to be a very good way to search through listings. Keep going forward in-house! You guys can do it.
I’m fairly sure contacting them won’t help. My guess is they’re just going to build their own version and don’t want the competition. Sorry dude. Loved Padmapper.
Very disappointing. I have used Padmapper in conjunction is Craigslist for years and the pair make an indispensible tool for housing searches. I hope many people contact Craigslist to voice their support for Padmapper and urge them to reverse their decision. Padmapper adds value to Craigslist, plain and simple.
The other way to help is to stop listing things exclusively on Craigslist, hopefully dissolving their undeserved monopoly.
What a bummer!
I really loved looking for apartments on Padmapper, and the majority of them were pulled from Craigslist! It’s so helpful to see the location of the apartments right away instead of googling every single address… So disappointing… In fact, I’m apartment hunting as we speak, such a shame I won’t see Craigslist listings on Padmapper any more.
Thank you for this great site. Hopefully, Craigslist allow you to stream their ads on Padmapper.
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
Email sent:
###
Dear Jim,
Dear Craig,
Unfortunately I had to read that Craigslist asked Padmapper to stop using CL listings on Padmapper. While I am sure that you had your reasons, I would like to kindly ask you to reconsider. Padmapper offers a functionality that is currently not implemented in CL.
For me, and probably for almost everyone else, one of the most important parts when finding a place to live is where it is. I am sure that you will agree that it is easier to look on a map than try to filter posts by the position given in their headline. This is especially important if you are not familiar with the area and do not know the location of the streets mentioned.
Could you please get in touch with Eric from Padmapper and try to find a solution that works for both sides?
Thank you!
Markus
Hi Jim,
My email: I saw that Craigslist sent a cease and desist to PadMapper. I found this very distressing because I just got off of a huge 3 month apartment search, and my biggest tool was PadMapper. PadMapper takes Craigslist’s great content, and packages it into a very intuitive, easy to use interface. Simply put, I wouldn’t really use Craigslist to find a place to rent as much as I’d use PadMapper. By issuing them a cease & desist, you guys will basically be shutting them down. See, if Craigslist isn’t willing to invest time into things that we consumers actually care about such as aesthetics and user interface design, disallowing 3rd party sites to access your content is a big hindrance on the community.
Hey Eric,
not so good news.
Emailed them.
Hopefully things will get sorted out.
SSS
So sorry to hear about this. I use this website constantly and it’s made my search so much harder by not having Craigslist anymore. I wrote a civil e-mail to Jim and Craig. I hope they change their minds soon. Best of luck to everyone.
Craig’s List just sucks. Period. Perverts, pedophiles, scammers, stalkers, rapists and killers abound and Craig’s List executives & staff don’t give a damn who gets hurt. They make no moves to institute even a rudimentary vetting process to help weed some of this shit out.
Phone verification is worthless and inaccurate. Keeps out more legitimate traffic than illegitimate, I’ll bet. I had to seriously work around their PV to get my own stuff out on the list. I’m not a spammer, nor any of the above mentioned things, just an average Jane looking to buy/sell/trade stuff with my fellow Craig’s Listers in my local area, as the list was intended to do.
By doing something like this and disallowing aggregator sites from pulling their content, they are proving that their priorities are all in the wrong place and that they only give a shit about their bottom line. They lack openness in the correct places. In short, the attitude is everything one could reasonably expect from a company who is partially owned by e(vil)Bay.
Fuck you, Craig’s List. Just. Fuck. You.
I can’t wait to see you fall someday. Sooner rather than later.
Email sent. That is really sad news. Your site addresses a serious flaw in their listing service, and I honestly look at more craigslist listings now than I ever have because of your site. Good luck!
Email sent.
I love PadMapper and it was essential for me when I moved to San Francisco. I couldn’t have navigated the chaos of Craiglist listings without it.
@dshaw
Sent. I found a sublet in a great neighborhood in Manhattan for 725 thanks to this integration. Now my sublease is over and this happens… smh.
Man, I understand your concern. I have utilized padmapper for a long time now. I’m in the middle of an apartment hunt currently and will really miss seeing craigslist on this awesome tool. Hopefully things change soon.
Thanks for this great tool. It’s amazing.
No!! That’s very sad news! I’ve emailed them. I’m currently looking for an apartment to rent from September. I have MLS listing access, but my favorite part of the day was coming home after work and looking at Padmapper. The joy I got from all those little red flags was immense, and I loved nothing better than searching and choosing my favorites. Craigslists is almost useless without Padmapper. No map function, words in the listings that aren’t relevant to the area, waste of time. I wonder if they are going to do their own?
I hope they reconsider, I really loved Padmapper with Craigslist on it!
[…] just read https://blog.padmapper.com/2012/06/22/bye-bye-craigslist/. This is sad! Do you know how relieved I was when I discovered padmapper? It’s so much easier […]
Very well said.
E-mail sent.
Padmapper is amazing. It helped me find the house I will be renting in a couple months. I definitely would have missed that listing if it wasn’t for this site.
If your site starts out by scraping craigslist’s listings to make a map / image grid view to “fix” their site, as soon as you try and monetize it they will send you a cease and desist.
As soon as you don’t have their data you won’t have enough listings for large numbers of people to use your site and everyone will move on to the next one, which will receive a cease and desist when it adds a business model.
This has been happening for years, and since they are probably making several hundred million dollars a year with less super low fixed costs it seems to be a winning strategy. They are not in business to help you make money.
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
Thanks so much for providing such a wonderful service. Your website has helped my wife and I locate several properties. You hit the nail on the head – I want to search by seeing the listings on a map first, before I see any further details. I sent an email to Jim and Craig stating my interest in seeing your services continue. Hopefully it will make a difference.
Email sent. I really hope this gets figured out because your service has saved me unfathomable hours of sifting through craigslist ads.
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
I really hope Craigslist gives pad mapper the permission. It really helped me a lot to find stuff on pad mapper. Most of the good deals i found were from craigslist. I really think its a WIN- WIN situation for both Craigslist and Padmapper and hope the former realize that soon..
[…] “Craigslist” from the equation. According to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
So sad! This seems like such a beautiful partnership. My fiance and I just rented a craigslist apartment that we found via this site. I emailed craigslist immediately. Good luck Pad Mapper!
Email sent! Moving to NYC internationally this year and you guys were really helping me out.
[…] popular apartment hunting site PadMapper says that it will no longer be including results from Craigslist in its database after it received a cease & desist from the site’s lawyers. PadMapper […]
It’s your fault for getting caught. You knew Craigslist’s ToS and didn’t invest in a safer solution like the many hugely popular sites that don’t get caught. You should have used a proxy framework to scrape results without parallelization to 0-day cheap hosting and postprocess.
[…] apartment-finding site PadMapper. Chief executive Eric DeMenthon made the announcement today on the PadMapper blog that all Craiglist-sourced rentals are being deleted from the PadMapper […]
ZOMGWTFBBQ!! Just sent them a rather civil email. Probably another one after I calm down. I’m afraid we can’t fix stupid though.
PadMapper FTW!
Bummer!! This is an awesome site, and the iPhone app is good too–thank you so much.
[…] apartment-finding site PadMapper. Chief executive Eric DeMenthon made the announcement today on the PadMapper blog that all Craiglist-sourced rentals are being deleted from the PadMapper […]
my letter to craigslist
Craig, Jim,
I’m writing to give you some solid honest feedback.
I’ve been a SF resident and avid craigslist user for over 12 years now. I love craigstlist. I’ve found homes, roomies (turned best friends), cars, bikes, and more all on craigslist. I’m a dedicated customer.
I’ve worked in Saas software for 8 years. We all know that the beauty of technology is that it evolves. It evolves, it re-invents itself and solves new problems, continuously.
Padmapper solved something you guys haven’t solved. The pain of cut and paste into a map and clicks, and more clicks, for every listing that appears on craigslist. Their service is helping craigslist evolve.
My request! Please allow them to continue their services with you. OR create your own mapping technology. Craigslist must evolve.
Thank you!
Jen
Instead of sending you evil letters, they should have made you an offer. PadMapper developed a very significantly more useful presentation of their data. Sent a civil email.
If PadMapper really cared about their users at all, they would convert to a non-profit orginization, making just enough to keep the site up & pay staff; then, there would be no reason for Craigslist to be concerned. If PadMapper decides to just close down, you don’t mean a thing to them.
Please look at my team page – this is a one-man operation, I personally make way below market for someone with my skills. It might as well be a non-profit, the way I run it. I don’t think that makes a difference to them, though.
[…] apartment-finding site PadMapper. PadMapper Chief executive Eric DeMenthon said today on the PadMapper blog that all Craiglist-sourced rentals are being deleted from the PadMapper […]
I wrote them urging them to find a way to work with Padmapper for the benefit of both. I hate craigslist without this interface. Padmapper has helped me find my past 3 homes, this site rocks!
I would totally pay a small monthly fee if I had to, to continue to use padmapper + craigslist. I hope you guys can work something out.
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
fuck Craigslist
Sent them an email bitching about Craiglist blocking padmapper. Lets hope they change their minds
I have used padmapper to find the right apartment that I would have easily missed using other services. I have recommended this to many of my friends as well. This is truly the best apartment search engine out there. Hope this issue with craigslist works out.
Bummer. I’ve been using Craigslist forever, and I really appreciate your work on padmapper. I made sure to email Jim and Craig asking them to reconsider.
Thanks again! Keep up the good work!
…Now to find a reasonably priced two bedroom in Columbus 😀
This is most certainly disappointing news. I am pleased to say that I have done my part and sent a very well-worded, polite, concise email to craigslist. I hope that others do likewise.
You have my full support – I simply love your service.
How disappointing! This is my saving grace. We NEED to find a place to live and unfortunately, craigslist has the monopoly in Minneapolis, but it’s so damn hard to search the listings. Thank you for the service you provide. It’s awesome!
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
[…] popular apartment hunting site PadMapper says that it will no longer be including results from Craigslist in its database after it received a cease & desist from the site’s lawyers. PadMapper […]
Craigslist is a pain to browse, but I was able to find my very first apartment in San Francisco this spring by subscribing to alerts on PadMapper. Sad to see Craigslist turn their back on PadMapper like this.
i sent them an email!
one time I had to move out and find an apartment in one week! padmapper really helped with that hectic time in my life haha
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
[…] apartment-finding site PadMapper. PadMapper Chief executive Eric DeMenthon said today on the PadMapper blog that all Craiglist-sourced rentals are being deleted from the PadMapper […]
I recently wanted to get the attention of some business owners over the web, and I made a petition on change.org to gather my community together and get their attention. It definitely got their attention.
padmapper is great and I used it to find my apartment just over 6 weeks ago. I would definitely sign an online petition to craiglist. Look into change.org man, it worked for me it should work for you!
Man, that stinks. I have been using your website every day for weeks in order to map out the many craigslist posts I have been sorting through. I like craigslist, but I have a certain geographic area where I want to rent, and it is a total pain to map them out by hand. I was SO HAPPY when I found your website! I will definitely write them a (polite) letter.
[…] to an account that creator Eric DeMenthon published on the PadMapper blog, and that he elaborated on over email, Craigslist’s lawyer sent him a cease-and-desist letter […]
Craig Newmark is an idiot, with all the business sense of a typical over-the-hill San Francisco hippie. He had a partner who put him on the map, who was responsible for making him rich, and he fought her every step of the way, and eventually she got tired of it and quit.
I just sent an email. Padmapper helped me find my new apartment I’m moving into this coming August. I had tried Craigslist but found it nearly impossible to sift through all of the garbage. Thankfully, a friend mentioned Padmapper and the rest is history.
-Ryan
wow, what a pity…:(
I have been checking share house everyday on the PadMapper since my friend told me it, and it was really useful for me. I was also impressed by PadMapper system, so it made my dream that I will create new website with useful map like you, some day….
I hope that PadMapper will be back soon for us!!
I dunno, Craig seems like a pretty decent guy. I have no idea where this C&D order came from, and I wouldn’t speculate too hard.
In what way was PadMapper trying to “monetize it”?
If you look near the top, I sell credit checks to put in a rental profile that you can send to landlords to prequalify yourself in their eyes. Some listings also make some money when their links are clicked on, but that’s a pretty small percentage.
This is sad. I sent them an email.
Email sent.
Sadtown 🙁
Padmapper > Craigslist any time.
Maybe the longer term strategy is to wait until they develop a license agreement for letting you (and similar websites) display their listings. Hopefully the volume of click throughs CL would get would enable them to cut you a deal on a subscription or per-click model. Alternatively, you could start working on a mobile app that uses location data to display nearby CL listings on a smartphone/tablet
Regardless, somehow, you have to figure out a way to bring this awesome service to the market since there’s a clear need for it. I love your website, found my place through it, and admire the countless hours you’ve put in Eric. Thank you.
Waaaaay to late to be helpful.
I found my apartment on Craigslist through Padmapper. Would have never found it through the mass of spam otherwise. I sent an email to Craigslist and hope things work out. Best of luck!
You are not depended on Craigslist ,
au contraire,
take advantage of their act and start your own service to replace theirs.
it is a present,
good luck
WHAT. THE. FAWK.
No more CraigList for me. This is a clear barbaric action against open web and shall be dealt accordingly. With a pair of fists, that is.
Email sent!
Sent an email. Fingers crossed.
Ohhh you tech,IT infrastructure, know it all god.
Email sent..
Eric,
You have done it, you found a way to make something way better. Why can’t you start your own niche and site doing exactly what you were and are doing?? Forget CL.
Do you need funding?? Do it, you dreamt big, now follow through please!!
This is an awesome site..
“Frustration is the manifestation of unrealistic expectations”
Sorry, but come on. I’m familiar with all of that stuff, of course. PadMapper saw way too much usage to stay hidden like that, and it would look seriously bad if caught. Better to be upfront.
Thanks Jen!
Thanks Dee! I’m looking at options. Hopefully Craigslist will decide it’s helpful/not a threat, but if they don’t, I might consider that. But PadMapper’s not shutting down, I’m going to make it bounce back.
I emailed both, and sincerely hope that they offer you the ability to continue this. You mentioned in the post that mobile apps can show the listings, (after a license fee) does that mean that padmapper for my phone will still show craigslist results, or is that fee prohibitively expensive?
Hey Evan, not sure about that, probably not in the very near term, since the mobile app uses the same backend as the website. I’d like to have them all show the same listings.
I sent them an email. I don’t like this decision, Padmapper absolutely rocks! My guess is that they are working on something similar. Either way I still like Padmapper more because of the aggregation between multiple data sources. Bleh @ craigslist.
Entrepreneur and originally an advocate for open and non-censored online social hubs.Now a driving force in search engine censorship.Join and Like this page simply to send a message against search engine censorship and this type of action.
https://www.facebook.com/fcraignewmark
Eric you provide a fantastic service, I sent an email to the CEO and Founder of Craigslist, expressing as much. I wish you the best and hope this issue can be resolved.
I too would be willing to pay a fee to use PadMapper + craiglist. Having that available will save me about 20hrs or work this Fall, and 20hrs of my time is actual worth a pretty solid fee.
I hope they reconsider, I really loved Padmapper with Craigslist on it!
Craigslist should worry more about filtering out all the scams, instead of targeting sites that are an actual benefit!
Oh for the love of…
FOR THE LAST FUCKING TIME.
IT IS CHEAPER TO SWITCH HOSTING TO ANOTHER JURISDICTION AND SETUP AN AMERICAN EC2 TRAFFIC SHAPPER WITH CACHING THAN IT IS TO HIRE A LAWYER!
Why you people put yourselves through this I will never know. If they block your crawlers address, spawn another VM. They can’t block the entire amazon range.
They won’t be able to c n d you, or sue you, and it will come at zero performance cost for your users.
Just sent this along. Hope it can help.
———- ——————————— ———-
Subject: Padmapper
To: jim@craigslist.org, craig@craigslist.org
Hi there,
I recently read that Craigslist was no longer supporting PadMapper:
https://blog.padmapper.com/2012/06/22/bye-bye-craigslist/
I just wanted to let you guys know that this means I, and many others like me, won’t be user of Craigslist for house hunting anymore. Not because of a desire to boycott it, but because frankly, PadMapper made it easy to *be* a user of Craigslist. In the last 3 years or so, I’ve wound up moving around a lot. Tech internships all over North America, back to school during the year, an international exchange program. The last few times, I’ve used PadMapper to find a place to live. Often, these linked me to ads on Craigslist.
I don’t want to have to search 10 different websites. I want to search a single website, with a nice, map-based interface. If that means I can only get ads from 9/10 of the websites that have housing ads, that’s fine- I simply won’t be seeing any ads from Craigslist. I’ll be seeing the ads from Kijiji, Ebay, and others, and renting a property through them. And I also know that when I decide to move from my current place of residence, if I need to sell a house, I should be posting the ads somewhere other than Craigslist, because they don’t support the method I know works for buying, selling, and renting real estate.
The only idea I can get as to why you might have chosen this is that you may be trying to push your own map-based Craigslist Search page. Which is fine- but I still won’t use it. Why would I when I can get everything else on the internet via PadMapper. If you want to compete, do so by innovating better than the competition, not by trying to stomp them out.
I’m not sure how the decision was made to stop supporting PadMapper, but I really think you should reconsider it.
[My name]
[…] Well, it looks like you can no longer use padmapper to filter out the bogus locator ads. Bye Bye Craigslist 🙁 […]
That is nearly word for word what I just said in my email to Craigslist.
Why on earth do they want to disable something that benefits both them and their customers?
OH NO! Your site takes craigslist’s awful search functionality and gives me a simple, enjoyable (as enjoyable as it can be at least) way to find housing.
Emailing craigslist immediately.
Sent both guys a passionate email. Padmapper has been an invaluable resource for me and I can’t imagine trying to find an apartment without it. It seems obvious Padmapper and Craigslist have a mutually beneficial relationship, and Craigslist should find a way to work with you – this was a terrible move on their part.
Oh, and it’s on Reddit by the way – hopefully the cavalry is on the way! Hang in there.
Thanks for being honest about that, Eric. I can see how a site that has always been free and makes no money from their service might be a little concerned. I hadn’t even noticed your ad for credit checks. Google makes a crapton of money on advertisements as well, and craigslist allows integration of googlemaps on their listings. Which is helpful but no where near as helpful as PadMapper. I’ve sent them an email as well outlining how PadMapper has been helping me in my very long distance search for a place (I live in MI and am looking in New Orleans), and asking that they consider making some sort of deal or something. The walk score feature in particular is super helpful to me because I can’t drive (seizure disorder), so finding a place that has pretty easy access to basics like grocery stores is especially challenging from a very long distance. Thanks for this. I suppose something else that might be possible is advertising your site to more of the smaller rental agencies so they send you the info themselves? I know integrating with Craigslist was way easier everyone involved. =/