If you're an inveterate apartment hunter, you know all about PadMapper—the online tool that lets you search, with an interactive map, for a rental. But PadMapper's success depends on harvesting external apartment listings; it doesn't generate its own data. That's why a recent cease-and-desist from Craigslist had users panicked. Because, let's face facts, without CL listings, PadMapper is much less useful—and that's probably putting it gently.
So despite Craig Newmark's ire, PadMapper will bring CL info back via a loophole that won''t technically violate CL's Terms of Use. Though PadMapper CEO Eric DeMenthon acknowledges it's kind of "dickish to go against their wishes in this, and I’ve always had a lot of respect for what they’ve done for the world," it's a matter of priorities. The longer the CL listings stay off of PadMapper, he says, the longer it'll take for people to find apartments. And:
Apartment hunting is an activity which, unless you enjoy it or it teaches you something, adds no value to the world, and should be over as quickly as humanly possible so that you can get back to doing other, more productive things. We can't really argue with that. Craigslist, it's your move.
· Bringing Craigslist Back [PadBlogger]