And, anyone who thinks that just because Facebook or TedsLocalFishBait.com has classifieds, that no one else can compete, is also delusional. Big world we live in. To borrow a line from Lewis Black – “Here’s the globe. See… Countries!”

Classifieds are one of the biggest misunderstanding of a web based business. It’s fun watching everybody jump up and offer a listing service.

The first problem: few are relevant.

The second problem: these sites try to cover all colleges and end up with only a handful of of ads here or there.

The third problem: classifieds are a devalued commodity. How can you charge $1 or $10 when everyone is offering the same customer the same free ad?

The fourth problem: college students do not pay the bills. Get it? They don’t put money in the pockets of these college centered listing services – period. They will spend $600 on an iPhone (want one), and 600 hours on Facebook, but they won’t spend $0.60 on a classified. And when it comes time to sell that bicycle, the’ll post it on Facebook, CraigsList, and TedsLocalFishBait.com if it has any traffic at all. It’s not a win or loose situation.

Finally, even if, scratch that, WHEN Facebook adds classifieds, they will still lack the broader advertiser who is looking to reach college students. Trust me on this. Talk with Sally Joe Johnson about her ad in the local paper and you will begin to understand.

Now, who the hell am I to say this? First, I’ve worked directly with college newspapers for 11 years, in the classified ad market. Second, since March 1, CollegeClassifieds.com (as tracked by Google) has reached over 16,000 users and served 86,000 page views. I know classifieds and I know college markets.

What will work in the “college classifieds” space? Relevancy, honesty, quality listings, effective syndication, upgrade paths, marketing and a REAL understanding of who is the customer and who is the audience.

Congratulations to Facebook.com and TedsLocalFishBait.com. Join the orgy!

And, I suppose they’ll be hiring a sock puppet to do the commercials for the service as well?