Online Classifieds Boom In Recession

Defying the decline in online advertising, visits to classifieds have risen by 84% over 2008.

The online classifieds market is on a high. While online advertising in general is in decline because of the recession, classifieds are growing. According to Hitwise, visits to online classified sites are up 84% over the same time in 2008.

In fact, Craigslist was the most searched term in March, beating out MySpace, which had held the title for the previous 16 months.

Heather Dougherty, Hitwise research director, said:

"Consumers have embraced free classifieds as a way to generate income by selling personal items, while others take advantage of the deals available."