Craigslist and Ghosting???

 Ok, Rich, my good friend and downline member, wrote an article Called "No Secret" over at http://offthehook67.blogspot.com/ . Now if anyone after reading said "WOW, OMI GOD I'M GONNA DO THAT TOO". Hold up there, Buckaroo. If ya go crazy you'll probably end up getting ghosted.

What's Ghosting or why has my Ad not shown up??

First, did you wait long enough? As your confirmation email said, you should wait for at least 15 minutes before looking to see if your ad is listed. Sometimes it can take a little longer for the ad to appear in the list, especially if the CL servers are experiencing a heavy load. We've seen ads take up to an hour and a half to appear in the list.


Second, check to be sure your browser is not playing tricks on you. When you look for your listing and don't see it where you think it should be, make sure the page you are looking at is not a "cached" page from your browsers memory. Your browser will sometimes attempt to store a page in it's cache and redisplay it to save time rather than try to download it from the site again. So basically you are looking at an "old copy" of a page. To make sure you are not looking at a cached (old) page, do a "hard" refresh of the page. To do that, click the Reload/Refresh button on your browser's tool bar (not the "reload" link on the page itself). In some browsers, the F5 key will also cause a hard refresh. This will force your browser to download a fresh and updated copy of the page you want to see.

"No dice! I waited long enough and I'm looking at an updated page. WTF?!?

If the above does not help, then what you are experiencing is referred to as a "ghosted ad". Ad ghosting is caused by account activity that triggers the CL anti-spam script system. If it detects an ad that it finds "invalid" or activity that it has been set to identify as potential spamming, ads posted by the account will be allowed to "go live", the posting process will look completely normal, but the ad will NOT be listed in the category index and search functions of the site essentially making the ad invisible to normal CL users. Much like any other filter application, the detection of invalid ads and potential spamming activity is an automatic function. It is simply the result of an ad or account's activity meeting or exceeding the pre-programmed limits tested for in the script. If you find your ad is being ghosted, neither the site nor it's staff is accusing you of bad intentions, however, you ARE posting in a manner that the site does not find acceptable and you need to take action to correct the problem and avoid escalating it. Rich and I hope the information in this document will be helpful to you in determining what you may be doing that the CL site scripts find unacceptable. In the end, it's just an automated script. That's all.
 

"I have no intention of Spamming?!? I'm not a spammer! My Varolo ads are totally legitimate and I'm not doing anything wrong!"

If you go against CL's rules, technically you are spamming.  Before you get your panties in a twist, stop for a moment and ask yourself  "Is it possible that, even though I had no intention of breaking the site rules, that I may have unwittingly done something that triggered the system's anti-spam scripts?" Ask yourself  "Is it possible that, even though I have carefully read the entire Terms Of Use and reviewed all the posting guidelines, I still might not realize exactly how the CL site is programmed to define or detect invalid ads in every situation?" There are many things someone can do that can cause the system to ghost ads, either through ignorance or intentional misuse of the CL site. 

"So what exactly am I doing that's so wrong?"
The following activities can and do lead to ghosted ads. A large majority of ghost ads are due to one or more of the items listed here:

• Attempting to post an ad that contains "control" characters or symbols that are not allowed by the system. You may not put "illegal" characters or symbols in form boxes. /, @, {, .....ect. Yes, the @ symbol is part of an email address so be sure there are no email addresses in the body of the ad unless you specifically chose the option to include your own contact information while creating the ad. Stick with normal letters, numbers, and basic punctuation.


• Posting too many times in a category (You're allowed one ad per category)


• Posting too often in a category (You are allowed to post one ad every 48 hours in a given category)


• Re-posting an ad or posting a new ad without first removing your prior ad in that category (You are allowed to have only one active ad in a category at any time) I, and probably Rich, am SOOO guilty of this one.
  


• Posting the same or similar ad in more than one category (Your local newspaper won't allow you to post your one classified ad under every subject or on every page. Neither does CL.)


• Posting ads in more than one city/site (CL is intended for local ads meaning your ads only go on the CL city/site closest to your physical location)


• Carrying on a conversation in ad space or posting ads in response to other ads (Any ad that could or does have "RE:" in the title is not allowed. If you want to converse, use the CL forums. If you find an ad objectionable, don't respond to it in ad space, flag it. That's what the flag system is for.)


• Inserting links to commercial websites in your ads in ad space where such links are not allowed (The only categories where links to commercial websites are allowed is in categories listed under the "Services" section. It is actually best to avoid placing external links in any CL ad if at all possible).

This is by no means a complete list of things that can lead to ghosting of your ad. There may be less frequently encountered issues that can get an ad ghosted as well. Staff may change script settings, rules, and thresholds as they see fit and at any time without any notification.  

"But I post like this all the time and nothing ever happened to my ads before! Why is it doing this now?" 

The reason it appears that sometimes people seem to be getting away with breaking the site rules is that, at first, you CAN get away with it... for a little while. This is due to the way CL is set up. CL is designed to run with minimal intervention by the actual staff(CL only employs a dozen or so people). To do that, the site is set up with automated scripting that allows it to be almost completely regulated by it's users (you, me, your grandma, and those 3 pricks who flag everything....there are people who do that. Some to get your Competing Ad off....(Hi, "BSE" I know it was you).  The system usually will allow some invalid ads to post normally before ghosting starts. Just because some previous invalid or spam ads posted normally, don't assume they will continue to post without consequence. Eventually the site scripts will catch up with them even though they are set to allow for some initial newbie mistakes as a new CL user learns to use the site.

How do I get CL to stop Ghosting my Ads?

If the ghosting was a result of illegal characters or symbols in an ad you attempted to post, then simply edit the ad, remove any suspected problem characters, and resubmit it. Most likely you will have to remove and repost the ad if it is "stuck".

If the ghosting was the result of prior posting activity, Then the only way to regain posting privileges is to take a break from CL. If you have any active ads, it is recommended you remove them and then wait. A few days without using the site usually allows the CL script system to start "forgetting" about your account activity. At least a three day wait is recommended. A week is even better. If you attempt to post after waiting and your ads still get ghosted, you may need to take a longer break. Continuing to attempt to post ads after ghosting starts can quickly make the problem worse. Worst case scenario, cut your losses and start up another account on CL. I have had 3...think Rich has had the same.

But I HAVE to post this ad RIGHT NOW!"

If a few days is just too long for you to wait, then that is a sign of an entirely different problem; perhaps best described as "entitlement issues". It may be that you are approaching your use of the CL site from the wrong perspective. CL is a private website and is managed at the whims of it's owner and staff. They do not need to justify the site rules or how they configure the site to operate to anyone. No one has a "right" to use the CL site. Free speech does not apply on CL. There are no rights or freedoms on CL that are not given by the site's owner. If your livelihood, income, emotional stability, or sanity depend on the immediate posting of your ad regardless of your prior activities, that is the result of more than one bad decision on your part. Writing emails to CL complaining of "unfair" treatment will get no response and may, in fact, lead to other, more undesirable results. So, if you are that frustrated that you will have to wait, get out the aroma therapy candles or the shot glasses or whatever it might take but be prepared to wait for a while. Your only other option is to use some other free ad site to post your ad(s).


In the next day or so I'll have a post on things you can do to Possibly slow or a stop CL ghosting....remember I said POSSIBLY. Some will work sometimes and sometimes not.....there is no rhyme or reason to what Craigslist does or why it does it.


Jt
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