Comments on: Oodle on Facebook Is Live

By: jd

jd — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:18:43 +0000

d-bag

By: Ben Vail

Ben Vail — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:31:05 +0000

Correction: The smiley there was intended to be an ‘eye-roll’, not a ’sun glasses’ look… Sorry about that,

By: Ben Vail

Ben Vail — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:29:19 +0000

Nice to see the internet full of supportive, constructive criticism.

Are the negativists all puppet accounts ran by one person/group with a grudge, or just generally being rude?

Talk about confirmation bias… pick out anything that _remotely_ could be used to support the initial premise, even though most of the examples are rendered entirely or almost entirely invalid in context.

Telling people they suck is cruel. Publicly doing so is worse. Sending a private suggestion with a way to improve relevancy, or suitability to the apparently niche community here is a constructive response.

It may be wise to consider the consequences of your words and opinions before you share them so glibly.

*rant over*

By: Llewellyn Montogmery

Llewellyn Montogmery — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:02:30 +0000

“Barry, it is a good article, however Sarah’s assumptions and guesses do not quite fit on TC…”

Agreed. Here is one assumption that turned out to be incorrect.

“Do you want your boss to see your old Playboys are for sale? ”

The poster of this ad doesn’t mind.

http://apps.fac...w/-/1245026932/

By: Adam Odnert

Adam Odnert — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:34:14 +0000

The question at the end of your article: “…wasn’t that the original eBay community”? Is really provocative. I would expect the “MAGIC” of Facebook to diminish with this cominig down the pipeline. I think the original eBay community and Craiglist users for that matter enjoy anonymity. Facebookers are anything but anonymous, as pointed out in the the Playboy-back-issues-for-sale-to-your-boss example. I’m not looking forward to this. With the proliferation of Facebook – what’s taken so long for a good social-networking thing to go completely swap-meet? And so be it if it helps people convert their post-consumer era stuff back into cash.

By: Shaping Youth » Sell Oodles For Shaping Youth Via Facebook Marketplace

Shaping Youth » Sell Oodles For Shaping Youth Via Facebook Marketplace — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:19:42 +0000

[...] they just launched today they’ll slowly ramp up to add more features, but for now, I must say, it’s elegant in [...]

By: Michael Merritt

Michael Merritt — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:24:15 +0000

@susan.
I am afraid that you are missing my points – Sarah’s article is “perfectly reasonable” and has a kind of “sweet irrelevancy.” With a casual, soft angle… nothing wrong with that, except that, well, I would really like to say that TC now is about, yes, technology.
This author “talks” to important people and then jumps to off-the-wall, erroneous assumptions… It is obvious that she needs to learn a *lot* about IT before writing an accurate, appealing piece.
I never “consume” TC articles, in this case, I tried to read it without holding my nose. I could not do it, feeling the same way when I read the author’s other articles. I would not apologize for my “grammar” –It is as good as any other writers/visitors here on TC. If “grammar” is the reason you read TC, then, you are a fool… as is defending the “sisterhood” just for its sake.
TC is for IT professionals.

By: susan

susan — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:01:41 +0000

Am I the only person to find it ironic that you would criticize a perfectly reasonable writer, whose article you just “consumed”, with such poor grammar?

By: ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA « Daily Marauder

ONLINE SERVICES/INTERACTIVE MEDIA « Daily Marauder — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:50:02 +0000

[...] new service launches Wednesday and will be rolled out to Facebook users over the next sixty days. (http://www.tech...acebook-is-live [...]

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 02:26:54 +0000

Wrong. Classifieds are all about LOCAL. I can’t stress this enough. The social component is a very minor side feature which I also can not stress enough. Craigslist has had the social component very well integrated since 1996 so it just goes without saying.

If you want to know why Craig wins hands down in every sector of classifieds try split testing between the CL and Oodle in any category.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that the response rates with CL are 10 times greater than Oodle. That’s not Hyperbole, that’s a fact from someone who’s done a lot of testing. FB classifieds will remain as relevant MySpace classifieds, which is not very.

It’s got to be about Local and it has to be the right venue. Social networking just doesn’t fit the bill very well.

By: Oodle、Facebookでいよいよスタートへ | KGRAND ONLINE NEWS

Oodle、Facebookでいよいよスタートへ | KGRAND ONLINE NEWS — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:02:10 +0000

[...] 12月にTechCrunchが報じたが、OodleがFacebookの案内広告を担当することになった。この新しいサービスは水曜日に公開され、60日以内にFacebookユーザーが利用できるようになる予定。地域的ネットワーク効果の発揮が必要なサービスについて、私の見通しは全体としては悲観的だ。案内広告も通常こういった種類のサービスに入る。求人案内としてはベストのCraigslistでさえ、ユーザーのわずか1%しか収益源にできていない。しかし逆に、ほとんど儲けていないからこそ、あらゆる分野にあのように急速に広まることができたのだともいえる。しかし、同時に、Craiglistが近い将来10億ドル企業にはなれそうもないことを意味する。Oodleも長らく苦難の道を歩んできた。ファウンダー、CEOのCraig Donatoは先週、私に「案内広告事業がどれほど大変か知っていたら、4年前に会社を始めるときに別のアイディアを考えていた」と語った。もちろんそれは（半分は）ジョークにしても、OodleはDigg、LinkedIn、FacebookといったDavid Szeのスター揃いのWeb 2.0投資先の中で、いわばクエスチョンマークを付けられている会社だった。（今はDiggにクエスチョンマークが付いているが、それはまた別の話）Oodleは、地域事業の陥りやすい罠を2つの方法で避けた。一つはMySpace、Facebook、AOLといった巨大ネットワークとの提携することによって、優良な配信先を確保しただけでなく、大量の出稿を集めることに成功した。その結果、Facebook、AOLともサービスはまだスタートしていないにもかかわらず、Oodleは4千万の広告が掲載され、毎日新たに50万が出稿されている。もう一つの巧みな戦術は、案内広告をローカル化ではなく、ソーシャル化した点にある。ソーシャルウェブの普及によって、単なる地域性を超えた意味のあるコミュニティーが作り出されている。もちろん、われわれは地域的に近所にいる人々と日々交流する。だから地域性も忘れてはならない。しかしよく考えてみると、単に同じ地域に住んでいるというだけの理由でその相手から何か買った（売った）ことがどれだけあるだろうか？　むしろ、そういう場合の相手は知り合いや知り合いの知り合いである場合の方が多いのではないだろうか？Oodleアプリは絶好のタイミングでFacebookに登場した。Facebookはサイズ的に巨大なだけでなく、構造として各ユーザーの「ウォール」に強い重点が置かれており、この場所が「売りたし・買いたし」やそれに続く会話を掲示するために格好の場となっている。eBayやCraigslistと違って、Facebookの場合、投稿は数回クリックするだけですんでしまう。「売りたし」の場合であれば、品物の説明、いらなくなった理由、有料・無料の別、有料なら希望価格、チャリティーなら寄付先、などの情報を記入するだけでよい。eBayへの出品がこれほど簡単だったら私の家の食堂に積み上げている不要品の箱はすっかりなくなっていたはずだ。もっともだからといってOodleがCraigslistやeBayにすっかりとって代われるというわけではない。 CraiglistやeBayのユーザー層はFacebokに比べてはるかに広い範囲にわたっているので、売値はかなり高くつけられる。逆にFacebookの場合、交渉の相手はユーザー自身のソーシャルグラフに強く制限される。たとえば、友達の中に自分の上司がいる場合、プレイボーイ誌のバックナンバーを売りに出すのはためらわれるかもしれない。最後に、小規模なオンライン通版ビジネスを始めたような場合、Facebookが適切な市場かどうかは疑問だ。しかし一般のユーザーが評判がよくて、信頼できる相手から、何かを適正な価格で売り買いしたい場合、理想的なマーケットになりそうだ。それに、考えてみれば、eBayがスタートしたころのコミュニティーは実際そういうものだったはずだ。[原文へ]（翻訳：Namekawa, U） [...]

By: Phil Britton

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 19:32:30 +0000

I also dig the iList scene

I find that importing and exporting craigslist ads via iList is the coolest function ever. And yeah, I can even promote on my social networks.

And yeah, what Mike said.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:50:12 +0000

While your boss seeing a listing for your old adult magazine collection might make for some interesting water cooler conversation, it’s probably not what most users are looking for. Facebook is definitely a great tool for mass marketing, but there are going to be some things you just won’t want some (like all of your friends) to see.

I think iList’s “promote” feature has got it right; allowing users to select which listings to advertise on social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook. Your friends can help you promote your listing by sharing it with their networks and your audience continues to multiply.

Whether Facebook Marketplace is the right fit for Oodle or not, news of the partnership on various blogs is most likely increasing traffic on the site, a positive in most lights.

By: Frustrated with CraigsList? Oodle Hits Facebook Tomorrow | Blippitt

Frustrated with CraigsList? Oodle Hits Facebook Tomorrow | Blippitt — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:00:46 +0000

[...] Oodle goes live on Facebook. It will be rolled out to Facebook users over the next sixty [...]

By: Ashu

Ashu — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:30:28 +0000

Sarah, I remember seeing a lot of “Market” type apps in facebook a couple of months(maybe more) ago.

Was no developer able to have a successful application to leverage the social graph that they need to to deal with Oodle OR will Oodle be integrated into Facebook, but not as an applications ?

By: BuyLocator.com

BuyLocator.com — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:20:44 +0000

i find entertainment value here. leading social startup puts Oodle all over there Facebk. next thing you know they will face stiff competition from a classifieds site named Drip.

TC is for passionate bloggers. right now there is no credibility in any marketplace, anywhere. right now credibility is in the eye of the beholder.

By: datepets

datepets — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 16:14:06 +0000

I think using the social graph is just too small a circle to sell your junk to. Sure some friends might want your junk, but they might want it for free or might want to trade favors. There’s not problem in selling locally to strangers if you do it in a public place. The problem with Craigs List is safety and having a reputable buyer and seller, Craigs list should have a Buyer Identity Confirmation. I’ve tried selling stuff to my friends with e-mail blasts and usually no one is interested.

By: Making money locally | James Tetler Web Design Blog

Making money locally | James Tetler Web Design Blog — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:59:07 +0000

[...] Lacy’s coverage of the pending Oodle launch brought up some interesting ideas about monetizing a locally focused [...]

By: George

George — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:28:48 +0000

Craigslist so simple but so effective. I think its a model we all strive for as entrepreneurs but find very hard to achieve. I’ve been hearing for a while that they will loose their industry leading marketshare but it hasn’t happened yet. Goodluck to all!

By: craig

craig — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:22:23 +0000

Just a quick heads up. You can find the new marketplace application at apps.facebook.com/marketplace

Thanks!

By: Barry C

Barry C — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:14:55 +0000

I disagree. I thought the article was a good summary of the Facebook-oodle deal. It’s easy to read, relevant and insightful.

“Anyway, what are you doing in Techcrunch?”
That’s between the author and TC surely? Even if she did write she was leaving, can she not change her mind?

By: Johan

Johan — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:12:09 +0000

Yes, “penchant” –
“a hip, snarky, brunette tech writer / author” I would add clueless tech writer, with an attitude. A “reporter” attitude… out of place in Techcrunch.

By: Michael Merritt

Michael Merritt — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:02:59 +0000

Your articles still lack of serious, knowledgeable analysis, compared to other good TC writers and have that “touchy-feely” assumptions based on your what? inexperience in the IT field [your own words]?
You are groping in the dark here…
Anyway, what are you doing in Techcrunch? You wrote several times that you were leaving TC… or perhaps that was another one of your “expert assessments” — Please don’t write that you are staying on “due to readers’ requests.”

By: Greg Collier

Greg Collier — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:53:27 +0000

Oodle has done a magnificent job with securing partnerships with a hand-full of large traffic generators, but can their current revenue model bring them to profitability?

There is plenty of money to go around within the classified space – I’m just not sure if sponsored listings, along with google side ads ever lifts you out of the red. There is such a thing as having too many listings – just ask craigslist.

Good luck, Craig.

By: mptest

mptest — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:00:27 +0000

Chris,
Hoe does IList make money?
-mptest