During my days in the trenches, I have heard many dealers come across this problem in regards to getting “Ghosted” on Craigslist. So, how do you stop it? Why does your post on Craigslist not generate any traffic for you? Is it something you did wrong or is no one reading your posts? Your posts are not showing up on Craigslist at all, why not? If the answers to my prior questions leave you in a baffled state of confusion, then read on. Let’s begin by learning what exactly is “Ghosting”. Ghosting is the term used to when you make a post on Craigslist, and the system tells you that your post has been published but your post never appears on the front page of Craigslist. The system gives you a post ID and a URL and you can see your post if you put the post’s URL in your browser, but unfortunately no one else will be able to see it because it will never appear on the front page. Your post becomes like a ghost wandering the back halls of Craigslist aimlessly looking for someone to look at it, but no one can see it. It’s a sneaky way they found to get rid of people they don’t want posting on Craigslist. Craigslist does this if its system labels you a spammer. This makes spammers think their ads have been posted but really they’re not. Most big-time spammers won’t take the time to actually look to see if their ad is listed. I’ve seen several explanations for the algorithm used to determine someone is a spammer from the amount of html code used to the number of ad posted.

Craigslist Ghosting, we all know it’s extremely annoying and we want to avoid it, but we ask ourselves are we banned by Craigslist or not. I am saying this because Craigslist does notify or give users any indication of being banned, therefore we go to search engines for a solution, and get nothing but bunch of stuff that doesn't work. The only thing it ever tells us is that we need to change our IP, our email address and we need to post unique ads, but it never tells us how.  As I have stated before, let’s understand that there is not one single reason that causes ghosting problems. Craigslist filters work in such a way that they account for multiple criteria and add those up.  When the sum has reached certain threshold – they will ghost your ad(s). Therefore, you will need to check for multiple things to determine the reason for ghosting. I am not being cold, callous or mean. I am only being brutally honest. Some will, some won’t, so what. Craigslist is , and probably always will be a community monitored site.

Craigslist allows its users to be the Judge and Jury when it comes to what ads should remain live or be removed, or better yet do you think the ad you are about to post is appropriate. Craigslist users have the opportunity to “flag” another user’s ad if they find it to be over posted, offensive or uncategorized, each posting has an option to be flagged or removed by its viewer, but it takes multiple flagging for it to be permanently removed from Craigslist. Ghosting happens without warning and should be considered as a filtering process. In the past few years Craigslist has strengthened its efforts to eliminate Spam or Over postings as a way to clean up their system from unwanted or excessive posting. If you abuse the Craigslist system and post ads that are clearly against their terms of use, you will have very little success in getting your ads to go live. It’s plain and simple.

Craigslist monitors where your postings are coming from by your IP Address. Your IP address provides Craigslist with the geo-location of your network. This helps them ensure that their users are posting ads in the area that’s the closest to them. Craigslist will find out if you are advertising your vehicles in any area other that your own. This does not mean you can’t, it just means that it’s more difficult to accomplish. This is not meant to stop anyone from posting to Craigslist; it’s a informative to notify that it is possible to be blocked, stopped and flagged, Thank you everyone for taking the time out to read. As always this is Glynn Rodean, NextGen Dealer Advocate, President and CEO or New Vision Sales. I look forward to seeing everyone at DD13 in Las Vegas.