Craigslist Flaggers
As you undoubtedly know if you’ve spent any amount of time using Craigslist, flaggers can and do remove many legitimate posts from the website. For some, organized flagging renders Craigslist virtually unusuable.
There are several common types of Craigslist flaggers:
Craigslist Flaggers in Pets
The Pets section of Craigslist is notoriously difficult to post in. Organized gangs of flaggers haunt this section in most of the major cities, and they aggressively flag and remove any post which doesn’t fit their strict standards.
Generally, they remove posts advertising animals for private adoptions (not affiliated with a recognized animal shelter), posts which mention non-neutered animals, posts selling animals, and often posts which mention animal shelters or rescues which “compete” with the flaggers’ favorite organizations.
Craigslist Flaggers in Casual Encounters and W4M
The Casual Encounters and W4M sections are famous for being the target of flaggers who remove legitimate posts in order to keep spam posts in the top position(s).
Craigslist Flaggers in Other Lucrative Markets
In fact, any high-traffic section of Craigslist that represents a lucrative market will probably fall prey to these same sorts of spammer/flaggers. If there is money to be made on CraigsList, and spammers don’t want to compete with private advertisements, odds are they will start flagging others’ posts.
How Craigslist Flaggers Operate
Obviously, one person flagging a post is usually ineffective. A post needs to be flagged an unspecified number of times before it is automatically removed from the system. Furthermore, it needs to be flagged from different IPs representing individual computers.
The number of flags required to remove a post varies from city to city and section to section and only the Craigslist administrators know for sure how many flags it takes to remove a post. Sections with a history of flag abuse may require 30 flags or more before a post is removed. Other sections require only 2 or 3.
There are two main methods used by Craigslist flaggers:
Flagger Groups
Organized groups exist to flag posts. Some of the groups operate from IRC chatrooms or web forums. Surprisingly, others use CraigsList’s own 2626 discussion forum, right under the nose of the Craigslist administrators. You can see their work here: Unlisted 2626 forum.
Automated spammers/flaggers
There are software programs for sale in blackhat communities which automate the craigslist flagging process through the use of web proxies. Web proxies allow you to spoof your computer’s IP address, making it appear that your actions are originating from more than one computer. With these automated flagging scripts, it is a simple matter to enter the URL of the Craigslist ad you want to flag, and in a few moments the script will send the flag request through numerous proxies, simulating a legion of independent flaggers.
Determined Individuals
The least common, yet scariest sort of flagger is the lone wolf craigslist flagger.
These disgruntled individuals have learned how to rout their web surfing through web proxies. Since every major web browser lets you set up and use a web proxy (even though the steps needed are hidden deep in the setup menus), it is a fairly simple process for a web-savvy individual to manually change his IP address, flag a post, then repeat the process however many times it takes to get the post removed. All he needs is an easily-Googlable list of web proxy addresses.
How to Defeat Craigslist Flaggers
If you are the victim of repeated and unwarranted Craigslist flagging, the first step to take is to email the Craigslist administrators at [email protected]. However, as many can attest to, your complaint will probably be met with deaf ears or, at best, a conciliatory but unhelpful reply. In some cases though, Craigslist will determine that you (and probably others) are the victim of an automated spammer/flagger and they will take steps to mitigate the damage. Hopefully, they will block the (usually well-known) proxy addresses.
The second step is to read the Craigslist Terms of Service (TOS) and make sure that your post really does belong on Craigslist. If you find that you’ve inadvertently violated the TOS, edit your ad then repost.
If you are still victimized by Craigslist flaggers there are several other things you can do:
Repost a slightly altered version of your ad
Don’t just repost a flagged ad verbatim. If you do this, it will take only a single flagger to re-flag your ad out of existence yet again.
Instead, repost the ad with some minor changes. Perhaps you can alter the last sentence “signature” tagline or something equally inconsequential. This way, the flaggers will need to go through the entire flagging process again, involving an untold number of individual flaggers.
Trick flaggers by avoiding “top-posting” your ad
If you post your ad, but immediately remove it, it won’t show up in the list. Later, after an hour or two has passed, you can repost it. It will then appear in the list but it will appear farther down in the listing where it would have shown up if you had not removed it originally.
Using this technique, you can avoid flaggers who use Craigslist’s RSS feed to keep track of the latest posts. If they never notice your ad, they won’t flag it.
Keep personal information out of your ads
If you are being personally targeted by Craigslist flaggers, be aware that even though you may post substantially altered ads each time, flaggers can easily search for personally identifying information like email addresses, phone numbers, or street addresses.
Leaving your contact info out of your ads makes it harder for flaggers (especially of the lone wolf type) to find and flag your posts.
Post when flaggers are inactive
If all the flagging seems to occur in the evenings, post in the morning.
Unless you’re being personally targeted by flaggers, this is often a good way to avoid notice by flagger gangs who flag just for the “fun” of it.
Flagging is Here to Stay
Craigslist is aware of the problem. However, except in the most blatant cases, they refuse to crack down and prevent it.
Why is this?
Nobody is quite sure of the reasoning, but the most likely guess is that flagging is in line with the Craigslist philosophy: a website of the people and for the people.
Flaggers exist, they are generally detrimental to the Craigslist experience, and there isn’t much we can do about them. But with the strategies outlined above, at least you stand a fighting chance. Good Luck.
