Classifieds websites are more popular then ever, with more than 26.3 million online users having visited a top 15 classifieds site in September - 80 percent more than the 14.6 million in the year-ago period - writes MediaPost, citing a report released Sunday by the Pew Internet & American Life Project and comScore. The number of visitors to Craigslist increased the most: from 3.4 million in September 2004 to 8.8 million this September - a growth of 156 percent.

Trader Publishing Company had 8.2 million visitors in September, up 90 percent; Cars.com had 3.7 million visitors, up 35 percent; Apartments.com had 2.1 million visitors, up 35 percent. However, traffic at Yahoo Classifieds plunged.

Classifieds traffic at Yahoo fell 42 percent, to 573,000 million, in September, from 979,000 in September 2004.

Craigslist attracted more visitors by opening 15 city-specific or regional sites during the year, according to Lee Rainie, director of the Pew project, reports the New York Times, which also writes, "The report is bad news for classified advertising sources like newspapers, which have historically dominated the market."