Marketing Pilgrim

It just over a week now since Facebook classified marketplace launched and I’ve had a little bit of a play and while it has real potential to shake up the online classified market there are still a few problems which aren’t helping the user experience.

Viewing Ads by Network – Every network has its own marketplace, which is a good idea it makes sure you only see the most relevant ads, however this causes a few problems.is. I live in place with at least three big educational institutions plus the city’s own individual network. Does this mean I have to browse four different networks to look for a car?

Signal to Noise Ratio – One of the best things about Facebook is the amusingly named groups you can join; most of them are pranks just to make an amusing message appear on everyone’s news feed. The problem is this seems to have infected the marketplace; at the moment some bloke called Tom’s soiled pants are available up for sale for a bargain price on my marketplace. If the Signal to Noise ratio gets too bad it will do the classifieds will end up being useless.

No RSS Feeds – in my recent search for a flat the RSS feeds from Gumtree have proved really valuable in jumping the queue for the best apartments available. I know RSS hasn’t really gone mainstream but having the functionality there for those who do want it would be a real bonus.

Lacks Map Functionality – Another problem with the property listings is the lack of any street map integration. Whereabouts the flat is makes a huge difference on whether I want to get in contact with the advertiser.

Lack of UK Sterling – A euro-centric gripe but it seems prices can only be listed in dollars which can get very confusing. Do the people mean pounds or have they doubled it to dollars. Either way it’s not very intuitive.

Personally I love Facebook, it’s got pretty much everything and I think the marketplace could be a huge success but there are quite a few niggles making the service really difficult to use.