The Craigslist PVA Formula

Ever wondered what caused the need for Craigslist phone verified accounts? You probably, like many, know that it was introduced to try and stop spammers. There is no denying that this is true, but there is actually a reason or cause for phone verification working behind the scenes in sections of Craigslist that actually don't require a Craigslist PVA to post ads. If you post ads on Craigslist and are not aware of what causes this, then you are potentially playing with fire and risking a phone verified block from Craigslist.

Many assume that there are sections which require phone verification and sections which don't. This is only partly true. There are indeed some sections that require phone verification. This includes primarily the services section and was initially trialed with the erotic services section. From there it spread to the remainder of the services section once testing was finished. Most people know that if you want to post in the services section you will need a phone verified account. What some people may not know is that many if not all of the other sections also can require a phone verified account before you are allowed to post.

What they may not also know is that how you post on Craigslist is the actual cause of needing to verify your account before you can continue. Craigslist logs IP along with other data to keep track of how people post. They do this to try and ensure that no-one exceeds their posting limit and posts too many ads. Several months ago, Craiglsist introduced a new filter where they appear to be keeping track of how many ads are posted from an IP range. When the number of ads (perhaps within a specified period of time) is exceeded, you will be asked to verify your account before you can continue. What sections does this affect? Most, if not all.

Many people, mainly casual users, can post ads in the for sale section without ever needing a phone verified account. However, for those who post multiple ads each day, you will soon find that your IP or IP range that you post with has been blacklisted and no matter what you do you will need to verify your account. If the cause of requiring phone verified accounts is known, how can one best avoid or try to prevent it from happening? The best thing you can do is rotate your IP as much as possible. This may or may not be something you can do, as it will depend on what kind of internet connection you have. However, if you are able to rotate IPs between posts you will increase the chance and life duration of your IPs. Will your IPs eventually get blocked? Yes, they probably will. This is especially true if you are posting with only a very few IPs. The solution? The more IPs the better. Doing this will help you avoid the dreaded phone verification request for as long as possible.

Hopefully using the tips above you can now avoid or put off having to use verified phone accounts for as long as possible. This can prove very useful if you have limited access to IPs and must rely on one internet connection to run your advertising campaigns with.