 | Choosing the Right Payment Method for You |
When using Oodle, you might occasionally encounter a buyer or seller asking about which payment method you prefer. In classifieds, as with most other forms of commerce, there are many different methods of payment: cash, checks, credit card, etc.
In order to ensure a successful transaction, your safety, and general peace of mind, we have just launched a page in our Safety Center detailing these various payment methods. Check it out!
Prudential Real Estate Partners with Oodle to Reach Local Home Buyers |
The data keeps pouring in: the U.S. homes market is in trouble. In May, existing home sales were down 15.9% in the past year and new home sales were down 40%. During hard times such as these, it’s not uncommon to see an industry using the ostrich approach: putting their heads in the sand and hoping things get better. The real estate industry, however, is doing exactly the opposite: agents and their brokerages are working harder than ever to promote and market their listings.
Today Prudential Real Estate and Oodle announced a partnership in which Prudential will feed its listings to Oodle to get featured distribution across the Oodle Network (Oodle and our over 200 local and national partners). We believe this deal foreshadows a broader trend in the real estate industry as it becomes more open.
Not too long ago, agents and their representing brokers feared sharing their listings — listings could be found only on MLS systems or on the broker/agent websites. Today, brokerage houses are working hard to ensure that their listings show up across the web. Wherever users search, they want their listings to be there. We expect to see many more deals like this in the industry and that other brokerages houses will want to tap Oodle’s strong local distribution. Hats off to Pru for being the trendsetter!
| Jeremy Zawodny leaving Yahoo! for Craigslist |
We recently heard that Jeremy Zawodny is leaving Yahoo! for Craigslist. We’re hoping that with Jeremy’s influence, Craigslist decides to become more open. Historically, the company has not only blocked search engines (like Oodle), but has also tightly restricted user activity. It will be interesting to see if Craigslist’s stance on openness changes in the next few months.
| Oodle Featured in Time |
Oodle was featured and Craig was interviewed in a Time article today called “Taking Aim at Craigslist”.
Here’s a snippet of the article:
“So what’s to ogle at Oodle? Unlike Craigslist or Kijiji, this site automatically displays a Google map next to each listing so you can easily pinpoint its location. Oodle also shows you how the price of, say, a scooter you are browsing compares with the average price of scooters listed on the site over the past few months. All listings are free, but sellers can pay a few bucks to get more prominent placement of their ad in search results. Buyers can also get mobile alerts when a listing that meets your criteria pops up on the site.”
You can read the entire piece here.
| Microsoft’s Live Expo Shuts Down |
We are sorry to hear that Microsoft is pulling their classifieds product, Live Expo. Expo tried some really cool things with their product, and Oodle firmly believes in the need for continued innovation in online classifieds.
 | Props to Oodle API Developers |
Hey everyone, Steve Baker here from the Engineering team at Oodle.
I wanted to take a brief moment here and give some props to my fellow nerds out there in the Oodle developer community who are doing some great things on top of the Oodle API.
We have several bigger partners who are making good use of the Oodle API, such as:
Redfin — Redfin recently came on board as an Oodle API partner, using Oodle data to flesh out their database of real estate listings. Their engineers have been especially helpful, pinging us with requests and suggestions for Oodle API enhancements during their development process.
Backpage — Backpage uses the Oodle API to provide extra listings at the end of Backpage search results. (Example here.) They’ve been a long-time partner and we’re happy to be a part of their solution.
Listpic — Ryan Sit did a great job in creating one of the most fun and visually interesting classifieds sites you’ll come across. Head to a Listpic search results page (example: Cars in San Francisco) and you’re presented with a series of thumbnails that can be sized up and down through the use of a slider bar at the top of the page. All of the classified listings at Listpic.com are from Oodle API. Solid.
I have a special place in my heart, though, for all the folks out there who are making it easy for fellow Oodle API developers to do neat stuff:
Joplin Crashpad — When talking about awesome Oodle API developers, I have to start here. Yahoo! user “CrashDaddy” is an all-star on our Oodle API group at Yahoo. He regularly jumps in and answers questions from fellow developers, even pitching in with full sample code in some cases. He runs a fun community site for Joplin, Missouri — called “Joplin Crashpad” — with listings powered by Oodle. It’s a fun place and we love him for his enthusiasm.
Ricardo Covo — One of the requests we receive most often on our API support email address is to provide .NET sample code and/or .NET client libraries for the Oodle API. Ricardo has done just that, writing a C# .NET wrapper for the API and publishing the source code for others to use. Awesome work.
WordpressIntoCMS.com — They recently rolled up their sleeves, revised some Wordpress page templates, and inserted extra code to “dynamically [display Oodle ads] for each Wordpress Post“. They used the PHP5 client library that we posted on developer.oodle.com to call the Oodle API when the Wordpress page template is displayed. Doesn’t look like their code is in heavy use yet around that site, but I can’t wait to see it all in action.
There’s plenty of other great stuff going on in the Oodle API community. You can find other examples in the “Oodle API In Action” section on our Oodle Developer Center.
We’re working hard this spring and summer to make the Oodle API both easier and more powerful. I know that you’ll like what we’re cooking up. If you’re interested in checking out the Oodle API, head on over to the Oodle Developer Center. Thanks to everyone for doing such great work! Keep on hackin’.
| It’s Time for Garage Sale Days! |
With spring cleaning on its way and gas prices so high, now is the best time to have a garage sale: you can make some extra money and clean up your house. With that in mind, Oodle announces the beginning of Garage Sale Days, a nationwide event to kick off garage sale season.
During Garage Sale Days, sellers can get a free listing and promotion of their garage sale on Oodle and its network of classifieds sites. Households that want to host garage sales get a free sellers kit that provides garage sale tips, a pricing guide, sales tracking sheet and a charitable donation tax guide. Local charities also benefit from Garage Sale Days as they accept unsold items directly from garage sale sellers.
Shoppers can access maps online for a complete list of participating garage sales in their area. More information is available here.
 | Kelsey: Drilling Down on Local ’08: Marketplaces |
One of the first conferences devoted to topic of building internet marketplaces. It pulled together a great group of companies and was fabulous for networking.
I want to give a shout-out to some of my favorite people that I met: Allison at iBegin, Jim Townsend at Classified Intelligence and Pam Kelsey.
Here’s a pic of me and Tom Buono from BIA Financial enjoying opening night at the Oodle booth.
| Kevin Doerr Joins Oodle as SVP |
Oodle today announced today that Kevin Doerr has joined Oodle as Senior Vice President, responsible for the Oodle Network. A long-time Microsoft executive, Doerr most recently led the Microsoft Windows Live Web Communications group, which includes Windows Live, Hotmail, Calendar, Contacts, and other services. Doerr will be based in Oodle’s San Mateo headquarters and will lead Oodle’s partner network and drive both distribution and advertiser relationships.
“Oodle is at a real inflection point,” said Doerr. “Traffic is growing very quickly and revenue is growing even faster. I’m excited to help Oodle navigate this phase of rapid expansion.”
| Happy Earth Day! |
From everyone at Oodle, we’d like to wish you a happy Earth Day. If you have been thinking about going green, one of the best places to start is with reuse.
Oodle has some reuse tips:
1. DONATE TO AN ORGANIZATION. Many schools, shelters and artist coalitions are looking for unused items and materials. Thinking local can make a visible difference and many charitable organizations like Goodwill or the Salvation Army, which will pick up reuseable items directly from your house. Tips for local giving can be found at http://www.oodle.com/donate/tips/.
2. SELL ONLINE. Online classifieds are a great way to get rid of things you would normally throw away. Think about how much money might be lurking in the recesses of your house or apartment and breathe new life into them. It’s simple to post a listing on Oodle.
3. BARTER OR GIVE AWAY. You may not see it, but others might see the value in your old stuff. Many web sites encourage barter where you make a straight trade of goods, or post to a “free” section of a classifieds site. Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.com) has a great national audience willing take even the strangest things off your hands.