Recently, Microsoft said that it will shut down some services, including Windows Live Expo, a listing service for classified advertisements.

ECONOMIST: Microsoft after Gates

Sites such as YouTube or even Craigslist, which offers an online dating service among a myriad of innocuous free-of-charge classified advertisements, are often banned in whole or in part.

ECONOMIST: The internet and government

Local newspapers have been crushed by the loss of classified and public-sector job advertisements.

ECONOMIST: The unexpected rise of amateur radio broadcasting

The classified sections in NRA magazines such as American Rifleman feature, besides all the weaponry, advertisements for gardening equipment and Viagra.

ECONOMIST: Despite legislative victories, the NRA is under pressure