"Hack" of the Week - Sept. 22: Avoid Getting Flagged by Craigslist

Craigslist is a great marketing tool to sell real estate. We've sold and continue to sell real estate through Craigslist ads. However, one of the things we've encountered is that our ads are sometimes flagged. In one case, one of my ads was flagged just 5 minutes after I posted it. My Virtual Assistant from the Philippines joked one time that the color of her CL Account is pink because that's what happens when your ads get flagged. Oh...and when the color is pink, your ads got deleted without your permission.

Why Your Ads Got Flagged and Deleted Without Your Permission

Before I reveal HOW your ads will not be flagged and deleted, let me first explain WHY this happens. When you post an ad on Craigslist, sometimes you get competitors who will flag your ad. When CL determines that enough people flag your ad (say 5-10 specially in the first 5 minutes your ad is up), CL will delete your ad. It is all "algorithm" - meaning there's no human person checking all the ads. It all depends on the ratio of "flags" to the number of ad views. So if your ad is viewed 20 times and you get 8 flags, that ratio is 0.4 and your ad will likely be deleted. However, if your ad is viewed 100 times and it got flagged 8 times, your ratio is 0.08 and most likely, your ad won't get deleted. I really don't know the exact ratio but suffice it to say...the lower it is, the higher your chances that your ad won't get flagged.

Here's Your Hack of the Week

Since it's all about the ratio, then you can lower your chances of your ad getting flagged and deleted by increasing the ad views. How do you do that? Here's an actual example of an ad that I've decided to renew. Remember the title of the ad.

Craigslist will then tell you the link to your ad. See below:

Then what you do is click on the link to your ad at least 20 times.

You're creating an "ad view" every time you click on your ad. By clicking your ad 20 times, you've created 20 ad views. Yes you will have a bunch of tabs opened. The top of your Mozzila Firefox tabs will look like this:

That's it. By clicking your ad many times, your ad views go up and even if some people flag your ad, your ad will stay up and won't be deleted without your permission.

Here's the Proof: (color is GREEN no longer pink!)

NOTE: depending on how big your market is, you may need to click on your ad 40 times to have a high ad views. Also, Craiglist might change their algorithm so there's no guarantee the above "hack" will work forever. So while it lasts...click away (LOL)!