Craigslist Bottleneck

15 years ago

Originally Posted by John Breese

Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn't.

I'll post a need for writers on CL and though my posts appear as active in my Craigslist account, they're nowhere to be found on the site.

In some cases, I write them off altogether, only for some bottleneck effect to kick in two days later and I get flooded with emails?

Anyone have an explanation?

um what state are you located? And do you use an email account that Craigslist has blacklisted?

Thanks

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J Bold

15 years ago

When you post an ad and it looks live to you it means you need to wait up to 15-30 minutes before it will be searchable on the site. However, if it still looks live to you but you can never find it when you go search for it, it means your ad has been "ghosted". This means the ad will never show up to users on the site but your link still works.

For whatever reason it means the system flagged your ad and will never show it to craigslist users, and I suspect they do it this way to confuse people they think are not using their system as they should. So, while it looks to you like your ad is up, if you never go double-check you wouldn't know your ad has been ghosted.

As for the reason your ad was ghosted, who knows, there are many variables in their system, I am sure.

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PMinc

15 years ago

Originally Posted by redicelander

When you post an ad and it looks live to you it means you need to wait up to 15-30 minutes before it will be searchable on the site. However, if it still looks live to you but you can never find it when you go search for it, it means your ad has been "ghosted". This means the ad will never show up to users on the site but your link still works.

For whatever reason it means the system flagged your ad and will never show it to craigslist users, and I suspect they do it this way to confuse people they think are not using their system as they should. So, while it looks to you like your ad is up, if you never go double-check you wouldn't know your ad has been ghosted.

As for the reason your ad was ghosted, who knows, there are many variables in their system, I am sure.

Hi J,

Thanks for the explanation. It does shed some good light on the matter, but I'm still confused as to why it only happens occasionally.

Thanks
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J Bold 15 years ago

Originally Posted by John Breese

Hi J,

Thanks for the explanation. It does shed some good light on the matter, but I'm still confused as to why it only happens occasionally.

You would have to ask Craigslist for that answer, and they wouldn't tell you.
- Thanks
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stodog77 15 years ago

Originally Posted by John Breese

Hi J,

Thanks for the explanation. It does shed some good light on the matter, but I'm still confused as to why it only happens occasionally.

"Ghosting" is one of the ways CL combats spamming. Really it is a goofy approach, and doesn't always do the job it is supposed to do. Generally it does get rid of spam but in the meantime it causes a lot of normal users headaches.

Almost 99% of the time ghosting is caused by the content within you ad/title. A lot of times they filter words, sometimes titles, sometimes whole sentence and html structures. The filters have really got overly sophisticated anymore.

Best thing to do is get multiple accounts, and make sure you are variating your ads.

It also depends on the section you are posting in. Some sections have tougher filters than others.
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Deadly Designs

15 years ago

maybe you are not looking in the right place, like the correct location your ad is posted

Thanks

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Dave4545

Banned 15 years ago

[DELETED]

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sbucciarel Banned 15 years ago

Originally Posted by Dave4545

Check this out.

Hey guys ... if enough of you people hit the red triangle (the report button), this assmonkey's spam posts will automatically disappear
- Thanks
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PMinc

15 years ago

Just wanted to give both Thanks & an update.

Going with the advice given in this thread I went back on my posts and removed the <h2>, </h2> html tags I had in them.

Boom! Instantly live after that.

Once again, thank you guys.

Thanks

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Dannn35

Banned 15 years ago

[DELETED]

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queenbuzzy

15 years ago

I work with apartment communities who post on CL daily, and we constantly have to combat ghosting.

You will be ghosted if:

-You have a keyword list
-Your ratio of HTML to text is too high (they never tell you the ratio)
-You have too many images
-You have too little content (meaning, you just post an <img> and no actual text)
-You have been ghosted before
-You have been flagged before

Of course, CL has their own little algorithm, and sometimes you'll ghost, and other times you won't.

You're pretty much at the mercy of the CL gods

Thanks
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magentawave

14 years ago

Originally Posted by queenbuzzy

I work with apartment communities who post on CL daily, and we constantly have to combat ghosting.

You will be ghosted if:

-You have a keyword list
-Your ratio of HTML to text is too high (they never tell you the ratio)
-You have too many images
-You have too little content (meaning, you just post an <img> and no actual text)
-You have been ghosted before
-You have been flagged before

Of course, CL has their own little algorithm, and sometimes you'll ghost, and other times you won't.

You're pretty much at the mercy of the CL gods

Are you saying that once you've been ghosted that CL never lets you post ads again with that account?

Thanks
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iAmNameLess

14 years ago

Originally Posted by queenbuzzy

I work with apartment communities who post on CL daily, and we constantly have to combat ghosting.

You will be ghosted if:

-You have a keyword list
-Your ratio of HTML to text is too high (they never tell you the ratio)
-You have too many images
-You have too little content (meaning, you just post an <img> and no actual text)
-You have been ghosted before
-You have been flagged before

Of course, CL has their own little algorithm, and sometimes you'll ghost, and other times you won't.

You're pretty much at the mercy of the CL gods

Simply untrue. HTML is not one of their signals for ghosting someone. Too many images is also not a signal. Too little content is not a signal.

The real reasons are fairly simple.
1.) You post too fast
2.) You repost a flagged ad
3.) Your ratio of flags in that city is too high compared to total live ads in that city section.
4.) You tried posting more than 3 ads in one day.
5.) renewing a ghosted ad will always produce another ghosted ad.

Originally Posted by magentawave

Are you saying that once you've been ghosted that CL never lets you post ads again with that account?

If that is what the person is saying then that statement is incorrect.

Thanks
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magentawave

14 years ago

Originally Posted by iAmNameLess

Simply untrue. HTML is not one of their signals for ghosting someone. Too many images is also not a signal. Too little content is not a signal.

The real reasons are fairly simple.
1.) You post too fast
2.) You repost a flagged ad
3.) Your ratio of flags in that city is too high compared to total live ads in that city section.
4.) You tried posting more than 3 ads in one day.
5.) renewing a ghosted ad will always produce another ghosted ad.

If that is what the person is saying then that statement is incorrect.

1) But is it YOUR experience that even one ghosted ad will make your CL account not work anymore?

2) Are you saying 3 ads per day per CL account?

Thanks
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iAmNameLess

14 years ago

Originally Posted by magentawave

1) But is it YOUR experience that even one ghosted ad will make your CL account not work anymore?

2) Are you saying 3 ads per day per CL account?

No, usually a ghosted ad will prevent you from posting live ads in one city. Sometimes not even that. If one of your first 2 or 3 posts get ghosted, then the account is screwed.

Yes, 3 ads per day per account is the max. Most who do craigslist a lot and sell pva's will tell you 1 post per 48 hours. I suppose that is so you won't need to reverify your phone number!

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magentawave

14 years ago

Originally Posted by iAmNameLess

No, usually a ghosted ad will prevent you from posting live ads in one city. Sometimes not even that. If one of your first 2 or 3 posts get ghosted, then the account is screwed.

Yes, 3 ads per day per account is the max. Most who do craigslist a lot and sell pva's will tell you 1 post per 48 hours. I suppose that is so you won't need to reverify your phone number!

1) Could you clarify your first answer above please... I asked if once you have had even just one ghosted ad does that mean that account is over?

2) I had one ad get ghosted last Saturday for an Asus tablet I was selling. I have never used that account for IM purposes - only to sell household junk once in a while. The only thing I can think of is that the ad had a bunch of ====== in the title, I used an image I borrowed from the Asus website, and just before posting the ghosted ad I had deleted another ad for something I just sold (another household item). Could any of those things have caused my ad to be ghosted?

3) Has it been your experience that CL will block a range of IP's? For example, my wifi IP is totally different than my cell phone IP, but when I change IP's using my phones airplane mode they are somewhat similar. For example: lets say your phones IP is 234.456.12.471, and AFTER the IP change its 234.456.13.433. Have you experienced CL not allowing a new account because the IP's are somewhat similar?

Thanks again!

Thanks
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iAmNameLess

14 years ago

Originally Posted by magentawave

1) Could you clarify your first answer above please... I asked if once you have had even just one ghosted ad does that mean that account is over?

2) I had one ad get ghosted last Saturday for an Asus tablet I was selling. I have never used that account for IM purposes - only to sell household junk once in a while. The only thing I can think of is that the ad had a bunch of ====== in the title, I used an image I borrowed from the Asus website, and just before posting the ghosted ad I had deleted another ad for something I just sold (another household item). Could any of those things have caused my ad to be ghosted?

3) Has it been your experience that CL will block a range of IP's? For example, my wifi IP is totally different than my cell phone IP, but when I change IP's using my phones airplane mode they are somewhat similar. For example: lets say your phones IP is 234.456.12.471, and AFTER the IP change its 234.456.13.433. Have you experienced CL not allowing a new account because the IP's are somewhat similar?

Thanks again!

1.) I said no in the beginning. If they want to block an entire account, they will simply block your account, you won't be able to log in. Usually that only happens if you spam the community section of craigslist.

2.) If you deleted the old ad before the cron job on craigslist ran, and posted the ad anywhere near the same time period, that would cause the ghosting.

3.) In my experience, no. Not many websites will try to ban an entire range of IPs. I have never seen craigslist BLOCK a single IP, let alone a range. They will simply block an account if it comes down to it!