FreeAdLists.com Adds FAQ by Popular Demand

I have had a number of requests from posters for a FAQ page. But first, I had to make some space on the homepage. So on the homepage, I decided to replace the Forums (aka spammer magnet) link with the FAQ link. I do hope you find these FAQs helpful.

Here is a preview of what will comprise of the FAQs. By the way, this list is not yet finalized and I will probably add a couple more in the next few days.

Q: Why is my ad not being posted although I followed the steps on the Post Ad form?
A: You must enable JavaScript and cookies in your browser. No cookie information is stored after closing the browser. The website has been tested on Internet Explorer 6/7/8, Firefox 2/3, Chrome and Opera.
Q: Why is my ad not being posted although I followed the steps on the Post Ad form?
A: You must enable JavaScript and cookies in your browser. No cookie information is stored after closing the browser. The website has been tested on Internet Explorer 6/7/8, Firefox 2/3, Chrome and Opera.

Q: Why did I not receive a confirmation email after creating my account?
A: You should check your spam filters. We get this complaint frequently and most of the time it is filter related or ISP blocking FreeAdLists.com. Suggestion: Use a web-based email account for confirmations.

Q: Why did I not receive a confirmation email after posting a classified ad (this only applies to non-registered members)?
A: You should check your spam filters. We get this complaint frequently and most of the time it is filter related or ISP blocking FreeAdLists.com. Suggestion: Use a web-based email account for confirmations.

Q: What if I use too many keywords (keyword spamming) in my classified ads?
A: Your account will be disabled and your IP/email address banned.

Q: Can I paste HTML code into the ad content box?
A: No, because of security reasons we do not accept HTML code, yet you can use the editor or you can paste rich-text from MS Word.

Q: How many days are my ads active?
A: They are active for one month or until you delete them – whichever comes first.

Q: How many ads can I post?
A: You can post as many DIFFERENT ads as you want. However, duplicate ads will get you promptly banned from the site.

Q: How do I delete my classified ad?
A: Refer to the confirmation email and select the DELETE link, or if you are a registered member, login and enter the Manage Ads page.

Q: How do I update my classified ad?
A: Refer to the confirmation email and select the UPDATE link, or if you are a registered member, login and enter the Manage Ads page.

Q: How do I activate my classified ad?
A: Refer to the confirmation email and select the CONFIRM link.

Q: Why am I having problems posting a classified ad?
A: Your IP or email address might be banned or there are banned keywords in your advertisement.

Q: How many languages does FreeAdLists.com support?
A: For navigational purposes, We support four different languages – English, Spanish, German and French.

Q: Should I deal locally?
A: Always deal in person and it is a good idea to bring someone along. After all, you do not know this person.

Q: My city or category is missing from the FreeAdList.com database?
A: Submit a suggestion. But if it is a small city or town, please use “other cities in STATE”.

Q: Are puppy classified ads scams?
A: Not always BUT ALWAYS DEAL in person when it comes to pet classifieds – Again, deal locally. Use extreme caution when dealing with distant sellers, especially pet ads by overseas posters – these are the #1 scammers. To put it bluntly, no one is going to give you a free Yorkie, Terrier, or Bulldog. Bottom line, these pets are highly desireable but very expensive so scammers are hoping you will fall for the reduced price or free adoption ploy (just pay for shipping–IT IS A SCAM). If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Q: My graphic ads are not showing?
A: That was on purpose. Do not post that junk here.

Q: I am being asked to wire money or cash a check?
A: STOP! You are about to be scammed. Only a scam artist will ask you to do such a thing. ALWAYS DEAL IN PERSON – especially from overseas contacts!

Q: Is FreeAdLists.com affiliated with any other websites?
A: FreeAdLists.com has a blog and a blog top site, TopBlogLists.com. That’s it.

Q: How long are featured ads active?
A: 1 month

Q: Is it necessary to post ads in html format?
A: No

Q: Who do I contact if I suspect someone is using my PayPal account illegally?
A: Contact PayPal.

Q: I bought a paid ad but did not complete the payment. What can I do?
A: Contact us and we can help you activate after you manually pay for the ad.

Q: I paid for the ad but it is not showing!
A: If you don’t return from Paypal, we won’t receive a confirmation that you completed the payment. But you don’t have to worry because we manually activate paid ads, which weren’t confirmed but do show up in our reports.

Q: How long does it take for an eCheck payment to post?
A: It takes about a week or so.

Q: What items are banned from FreeAdLists.com?
A: Junk classifieds – predominantly “Ad posting scams”, “data entry scams”, “chain letters”, “Ponzi scams”, “loan offers”, “typing scams”, etc.

Q: Who do I contact if I find something illegally posted?
A: Flag it and contact site admin. The ad owner could be banned or/and reported to the proper authorities.

Q: How old do I need to be to post on FreeAdLists.com?
A: 18 or older. This site is for adults.

Q: What if I use too many keywords (keyword spamming) in my classified ads?
A: Your account will be disabled and your IP/email address permanently banned.

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Be careful when you respond to that “Remove Me” or “Unsubscribe” Link

We all receive unwanted email everyday and wish it would stop at our command. To get the point across, we sometimes take matters into our own hands . However, you should consider this question first. Did you subscribe to the mailing list in the first place? No? So before you decide to respond to that “Remove Me” or “Unsubscribe” link, you might want to visit Spamhaus.org and read why that might not be such a great idea. Spammers send out millions of emails each day, but they don’t know which ones are valid or invalid. All you are doing by replying to the link is confirming the email address – now it is valuable to a spammer.

For more Internet spam information, visit Spamhaus.org

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Online Classified Ads – Where does this leave print advertising, especially newspapers?

In my last post, I mentioned “Where does this leave print advertising, especially newspapers?” Well, there is a report by a consulting firm estimating Craigslist’s revenue will top $100 million for 2009.

Undoubtedly, this will add more pressure to print advertising revenues. It is no surprise and expect the trend to continue for print, especially in a flagging economy. Everyone likes free or very close to it.

With Craigslist traffic numbers, they could substantially grow revenues but its founder, Mr. Craig Newmark, and CEO, Mr. Jim Buckmaster have made it well-known that they are conservative in growing revenues.

How much more can the classified ads space grow? Frankly speaking, I think this space has a lot more growth potential left.

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Classified Ad Use is Trending Upward

I received this article from Peter of www.mykidscloset.com and it mentioned that online classified advertising use is up — substantially. Frankly speaking, I am not surprised as many people around the globe are becoming familiar with the Internet. So what is the biggest draw to classified ad sites? It is something that everyone can afford — they are FREE. The vast majority of them offer free classified ads. The biggest player in the classified ad space is the venerable Craigslist. Here is their staggering traffic numbers for last month via compete.com — 53 million unique visits and 447 million total visits.

Where does this leave print ads, especially newspapers?

At any rate, here is the article by Pew Internet: classified ad use is up.

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FreeAdLists.com’s Community is Growing on Twitter.com

A little more than a year ago I remember checking out twitter.com. Frankly speaking, I was not all that impressed because it did not seem too stable at the time. However, it appears those stabilization issues are now under control.

What is twitter.com? It is a free social media website that keeps twitterer’s connected to each other in real time via a 140 character or less “tweet.” – really a simple text message. It is all about spontaneous communications and you know what…it is dang catchy! It is a great utility for quickly spreading the word on something you or someone else is doing.

Twitter.com’s traffic numbers have grown exponentially per compete.com – 1.5 million to 19.5 million twitterer’s per month - April 08 to April 09. They have a ways to go before they catch up with the other big social sites — primarily myspace and facebook – but its viral nature makes it quite doable.

Follow FreeAdLists.com twittering and see what we are doing in real-time.

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Seeking Requests for Proposals for a Legal Counsel of Koror State Government

Here is an interesting classified ad. The Koror State Government (Palau) appears to be searching for a Legal Counsel. As usual, you should perform your due diligence to ensure accuracy.  But of course in this case, the job seeker would be a practicing/established attorney so due diligence should be academic.

Here is the Featured Ad below:

http://www.freeadlists.com/details_179105_Request-for-Proposal-Legal-Counsel.html

Notice is hereby given that Koror State Government, P.O. Box 116, Koror, Palau 96940, Telephone Number (680)488-8600, Fax Number (680)488-4006, Email: finance AT kororstate.org, is hereby seeking requests for proposals for a Legal Counsel of Koror State Government. The Position will be a two year contract to begin May or June 2009. Proposals should include the following: The candidate must be a member in good standing of a bar of a state in the United States. The applicant must have at least five years of trial and land/real estate and preferably collections experience. The position calls for an individual who is hard working and who has a friendly, relaxed, open-door approach to dealing with people.

This notice is issued by Koror State Government. Questions or inquiries may be made to Marlena Sato, Procurement Officer, Treasury Department, Koror State Government.

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My Top 20 Job Related Websites

It is no big surprise that unemployment in the USA and around the world has been steadily climbing, especially with the ongoing global recession. There there are signs of recovery per the Fed. So it might be a good time to post a job related classified ad and update your professional profile/resume. There are a lot of online resources to help potential job seekers find a new position.

Here are 20 well-known job websites that I have used in the past or heard positive comments through the grapevine.

Here are two salary calculators – Salary.com and CBSalary.com

  1. bestjobsusa.com
  2. careers.com
  3. careerbuilder.com
  4. coolworks.com
  5. craigslist
  6. yahoo hotjobs.com
  7. hound.com
  8. indeed.com
  9. job.com
  10. jobcentral.com
  11. jobcircle.com
  12. jobfox.com
  13. jobing.com
  14. jobserve.com
  15. jobster.com
  16. linkedIn.com
  17. monster.com
  18. realmatch.com
  19. simplyhired.com
  20. USAjobs.com

And if all else fails, you can always post a job classified on FreeAdLists.com :)

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So-Call “Ad Posting” Classifieds are Not Wanted

I have received a few complaints from posters who are attempting to post so-call classified ads for “data entry,”  ”copy and paste posting” and “ad posting.” Please stop sending messages. Why? Those type of ads are considered junk ads. They provide absolutely no value to readers of this site. I know other classified ad sites accept them but that is their prerogative. We do not.

Most, if not all, of these “ad posting” or “data entry” job classifieds/work at home programs are scams. The scammers will likely ask you for a so-call registration fee. After that, YOU will be posting ads with little IDs around the Internet searching for suckers to join the registration program. These are NOT real jobs…Do not be fooled!

From the FeedJit.com feed widget (flags), I can tell some “prospective ad posting posters” have tried or are trying to figure out what the heck is going on when they can not post those scam/junk ads.

Frankly speaking, the site’s traffic has taken a small hit since we implemented more stringent filters – but that is okay – because that particular traffic was truly unwanted. And in the long-run, it was/is the best path to take.

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Join our FreeAdLists Page on Facebook.com

We finally created a facebook.com page for FreeAdLists.com. Frankly speaking, Facebook is a really hard medium to ignore and its reach as a social service is second to none. We are hoping it is another channel for us to get the word out on our free ads service. We will be updating the page frequently so check in. So with that being said, go ahead and join the FreeAdLists.com Facebook Page and don’t forget to tell your friends about our service.

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Stumbling Classified Ad Websites Yields Surprise

I would be a liar if I said I did not stumble another classified ad website from time to time– basically to see who has not been snuffed out yet by the “big boys classified ad sites.”  But this particular stumbling experience was quite a surprise.  Frankly speaking, I thought it was just another ho-hum maintenance notice. But after closer review, I realized it was an explanation as to why Stumblehere.com was not doing business as usual. And anyone who runs a quick query via compete.com  can see their unique visits have significantly dropped off. Why? Their server collocation facility had been raided by the FBI!! Their server is in the custody of the FBI. I guess that is a very good reason.

Stumblehere said they were NOT under any investigation, but it might be awhile before their server and database resources are returned. Stumblehere is being proactive and they are not waiting for their server resources to be returned — but they definitely need their database returned. They are promising to come back with a new and improved look — better than ever.

Good luck to Stumblehere.com and their impending return to the classified ad arena.

By the way, I have absolutely no affilation with Stumblehere.com

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