Marketplace, it’s the latest feature being unveiled on the Social Networking site Facebook. According to the New York Times the new classified service “will allow users to create classified listings in four categories: housing; jobs; for sale, where users can list things like concert tickets and used bikes; and “other,” a catch-all that could include things like solicitations for rides home for the holidays.”

Facebook, the newest internet traffic behemoth, has decided to leverage it’s highly engaged users base. Mark Zuckerberg commented that “more than 60 percent of the site’s active users log in each day. If we can provide people with efficient tools, they will use the site more.”

The service, whose functionality is strikingly similar to that of Craigslist, appears to have two distinct advantages.

1. Facebook users can determine who will see their ad and decide how wide to publish it, whether they only make it available to their friends or send it out to their school, work or geographic network. 
2. Unlike Craigslist, selling on Facebook is anything but anonymous, Zuckerberg explains “There are no anonymous listings, and we give you a very clear path to see how you can trust the other person you are conducting business with”.  

Should be interesting to see how this plays out.