Craigslist Flagging & Ad Removal

Overview

A common frustration on Craigslist is when an ad gets flagged and removed from the listings page. This can happen if the Craigslist robot decides your ad is spam or if a Craigslist user flags your ad manually. This page contains more information regarding common reasons for Craigslist ad flagging and removal.

What is Craigslist Flagging

Being flagged on Craigslist means that your ad has been removed and it is no longer visible on the listings page. Most commonly ads are removed by Craigslist staff or Craigslist's automated systems.

Common causes:

Posting identical content within 48-hours.
Posting content in multiple cities from one account (even if the content is different).
Posting any two ads within the same hour.
Reusing the same title for multiple ads.
Posting too many ads in a single day.
Posting from a foreign country, state, or city (e.g. using foreign employees or posting while you are on vacation).
Using words that seem scammy like "free", "credit card", "weight loss", "dating", etc.
Using photos that don't relate to your ad (try to avoid using any logos in your images).

Note: Millions of ads are removed by the automated systems monthly. No moderation system is perfect and there is a chance your ads may be removed even if they are compliant! Please reach out to help@rooof.com for assistance if you are experiencing Craigslist flagging.

User Flagging

Craigslist users have the ability to flag postings via the flagging link at the top of each ad. Users report that they manually flag ads for some of the reasons listed below. Although we may not agree with their motivation, this is what people tell us!

Malicious flagging; often a former resident, employee, or competitor.
Overusing words like free or deal (might be seen as too good to be true, scammy/spammy).
Missing phone number or missing email address.
Too many large paragraphs in your ad; not enough factual data or critical information about your property.
Looks like a big company (even if you are a big company).
Too many ads that look very similar (in a brief period of time).
Forcing people to phone you instead of providing an email address.
Generic ads that are not specific to one particular listing (building ads vs. unit ads).

Note: Craigslist does not disclose a reason for flagging/removal so unfortunately, there is no way of knowing whether your ad was flagged by a user or the robot. However, user flagging is very rare!

Troubleshooting

If you have been experiencing Craigslist flagging and ad removal please reach out to help@rooof.com for assistance.