Social networking Web site Facebook today will introduce Marketplace, a free classified ads service to compete with similar listings on Craiglist -- and, as of this week, Facebook rival Friendster.
Facebook members will be able to advertise offerings in four categories: housing; jobs; for sale, for items like concert tickets; and "other," which would include things like solicitations for rides.
"The advantage of having classifieds linked to a social network is that you know something about the seller," said Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester Research, in
The New York Times. She
added, "You are less likely to buy a lemon from someone who is a friend of yours." Facebook's major competitor, MySpace, has provided classified advertising for most of its life.
Read the whole story at The New York Times »
