 | |
 | |
| Type of business | Private company |
|---|---|
Type of site | classifieds |
| Available in | English |
| Founded | 2000 |
| Headquarters | McLean, Virginia, United States |
| Founder(s) | Greg Collier |
| URL | geebo |
| Launched | 2000 |
| Current status | active |
Geebo is an American online classifieds marketplace website based in McLean, Virginia. It was founded in 2000 by entrepreneur Greg Collier as a site for promoting job listings and other services in the Sacramento, California region.
Geebo is an independent online classified advertising site populated through partnerships with speciality advertising sites, and free listings posted by private individuals. Primary categories for the listings include: employment, real estate, automotive and general merchandise.
The site has evolved as one of a number of classifieds sites on the Internet looking to reinvent a business that was largely neglected by the newspaper industry as Internet services began to displace traditional print outlets. [1]
Geebo founder Greg Collier has become an outspoken advocate for safety in the online marketplace and, in 2010, altered the company's business model to exclude personals ads. The site reviews all submitted ads for signs of fraud, deception or otherwise improper behavior before allowing them to be published and has called on all operators of online classifieds to do the same.
In 2010, on the heels of headline news about prostitution and other criminal activity on other classified sites - notably competitor Craigslist - Geebo launched a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers within online classifieds and the steps that site operators should be taking to reduce the potential for innocent victims to be preyed upon.[ citation needed ]
In July 2010, Geebo joined the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW), Prostitution Research and Education and numerous other co-sponsors in a protest against Craigslist's facilitation of sex trafficking through unmonitored ads on that site.
In September 2010, Geebo removed the personals section from its site. The company noted that, while there were no reported incidents of criminal behavior resulting from Geebo's personals, there was a sense of moral responsibility around keeping the listings safe. [2] [3]
In early 2011, Geebo's Collier issued an open letter to his counterparts in the online classifieds business, asking them to take steps to keep their sites safe, including: screening ads before publishing, reporting suspicious activity to law enforcement and removing sections that feature adult-oriented ads. [4]
In April 2011, Geebo partnered with WeGoLook, a startup that provides on-site inspection services for would-be buyers who utilize online classifieds. [5]
In October 2012, Geebo reached a site traffic milestone, [6] exceeding 1 million monthly unique visitors after a shift in site strategy to emphasize job listings on the site.
In January 2013, due to the number of puppy mills that sell sick or abused animals through online classifieds platforms, Geebo decided to stop accepting ads for pets. [7]
In May 2015, Geebo partnered with the AIM Group's SafeTrade Station initiative in order to provide a list of safe trading spots at police stations across the country. [8]
In 2016, in response to the Orlando nightclub shooting and other mass shootings, Geebo stopped accepting ads for firearms even though no firearms-related crimes were ever linked to Geebo.[ citation needed ]
In February 2019, Geebo announced that they were monitoring the responses to ads made through the Geebo platform in order to try to prevent users from being contacted by obvious scammers. [9]
eBay Inc. is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that brokers customer to customer and retail sales through online marketplaces in 190 markets worldwide. Sales occur either via online auctions or "buy it now" instant sales, and the company charges commissions to sellers upon sales. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in September 1995. It has 134 million yearly active buyers worldwide and handled $74 billion in transactions in 2022, 49% of which was in the United States. In 2022, the company had a take rate of 13.25%.
Classified advertising is a form of advertising, particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used by businesses, although display advertising is more widespread. They were also commonly called "want" ads, starting in 1763, and are sometimes called small ads in Britain.
Kijiji.ca is a Canadian online classified advertising website. It operates sections for cities and urban regions, for posting local advertisements. Kijiji was launched in February 2005 as an eBay subsidiary under Marktplaats BV Marktplaats and Kijiji became part of the eBay Classifieds Group in 2007. The Kijiji brand is used in more than 100 cities in Canada. eBay operated classifieds websites under different brands in other countries.
Craigslist is a privately held American company operating a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to jobs, housing, for sale, items wanted, services, community service, gigs, résumés, and discussion forums.
Chicago Lawyers' Committee For Civil Rights Under Law v. Craigslist, 519 F.3d 666, is a Seventh Circuit decision affirming a lower court ruling that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) provides immunity to Internet service providers that "publish" classified ads that violate the Fair Housing Act (FHA).
Internet homicide, also called internet assassination, refers to killing in which victim and perpetrator met online, in some cases having known each other previously only through the Internet. Also Internet killer is an appellation found in media reports for a person who broadcasts the crime of murder online or who murders a victim met through the Internet. Depending on the venue used, other terms used in the media are Internet chat room killer, Craigslist killer, Facebook serial killer. Internet homicide can also be part of an Internet suicide pact or consensual homicide. Some commentators believe that reports on these homicides have overemphasized their connection to the Internet.
Customer to customer markets provide a way to allow customers to interact with each other. Traditional markets require business to customer relationships, in which a customer goes to the business in order to purchase a product or service. In customer to customer markets, the business facilitates an environment where customers can sell goods or services to each other. Other types of markets include business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C).
locanto is a worldwide Locanto only network with areas dedicated to jobs, personals, for rent, for sale, services, community, real estate, vehicles, and pets.
Deseret Digital Media, Inc. (DDM) is a subsidiary company of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), an American holding company owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. DDM owns digital assets, primarily focused on the Utah news and classifieds site KSL.com and tourism site Utah.com.
Backpage.com was a classified advertising website founded in 2004 by the alternative newspaper chain New Times Inc./New Times Media as a rival to Craigslist.
Krrb was a hyperlocal classified advertising website that allowed individuals and businesses to sell items. Members of the website could also list real estate, housing, events, services, jobs and community notices. The website was based on the idea of neighborhood garage sale or flea market, prioritizing proximity over categorization so that users could see listings nearest to them. Each seller got a personal storefronts where all their listings were displayed.
Armslist.com is a classified advertisements website with sections devoted to firearms, firearms accessories, outdoors equipment, miscellaneous firearms related materials, and discussion forums. Armslist has drawn criticism and support due to it facilitating the legal sale of firearms between individuals online.
Sex trafficking in the United States is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation as it occurs in the United States. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions. It is commonly associated with organized crime.
Letgo was a company that provided a website and app that allows users to buy from, sell to and chat with others locally. The products launched in 2015.
OfferUp is an online mobile-first C2C marketplace with an emphasis on in-person transactions. It was founded as a competitor to Craigslist, differentiating itself with mobile-friendly apps and user profiles with ratings.
Alejandro Carlos "Alec" Oxenford is an Argentine entrepreneur. He co-founded OLX, and co-founded letgo, a mobile classified ad app in the United States.
OLX Group is a Dutch-domiciled online market place headquartered in Amsterdam. The OLX consumer brand originated as OnLine eXchange in 2006. OLX Group is owned by Prosus, the international assets division of Naspers.
Jiji is an African online marketplace that provides buyers and sellers with an avenue to meet and exchange goods and services.
FOSTA and SESTA are U.S. Senate and House bills which became law on April 11, 2018. They clarify the country's sex trafficking law to make it illegal to knowingly assist, facilitate, or support sex trafficking, and amend the Section 230 safe harbors of the Communications Decency Act to exclude enforcement of federal or state sex trafficking laws from its immunity. Senate sponsor Rob Portman had previously led an investigation into the online classifieds service Backpage, and argued that Section 230 was protecting its "unscrupulous business practices" and was not designed to provide immunity to websites that facilitate sex trafficking.
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