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Comment by flatline3 | Hacker News Reader

I don't understand the justification for "saving" padmapper.

Padmapper's goal is to have Craigslist subsidize their data until they grow large enough to challenge Craiglist's business.

Craigslist would be stupid to let them do this.

Instead, why don't you write a letter to craigslist asking for similar functionality?

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They already run PadLister[1]. I wonder whether their endgame is to usurp Craigslist, or to continue being an aggregator? Personally I see more value in them pulling in Craigslist ads than trying to create their own community, but at this point they're really limited for options.

Maybe I'm looking at this the wrong way, but what about companies like Twitter that rely heavily on people using their API? Is there ever a concern that the apps will try to create their own network and push Twitter out?

[1] http://www.padlister.com/

Are you saying that Craigslist runs PadLister? If so, when you click "Search All Listings" it brings up PadMapper... As a result, I'm a bit confused.

PadLister is run by PadMapper. Check the copyright at the bottom of the page.

Yeah, there is PadLister - my goal with that wasn't to usurp them with that, I just wanted to have a backup in place. It actually makes it easier to post to Craigslist. But I know how that looks :-/

Craigslist is ranked #9 in the US on Alexa. I think it's completely understandable that you're running PadLister, especially since it would take some sort of internet voodoo to make a dent in Craigslist's traffic.

Yeah, I'm not delusional...

It's clear that there's a good number of people who really love your product, and PadMapper is clearly a better product than Craigslist—the only thing going against you is the network effect. I don't know the specifics, but maybe there's enough of a support base that PadLister could take off the same way as AirBnB did.

>Is there ever a concern that the apps will try to create their own network and push Twitter out?

Yes, there is. http://ubermedia.com/

Write a letter to Craigslist? You may as well stuff it in a bottle and throw it in the ocean.

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