Listpic, the visual search tool for Craigslist postings, has been blocked by Craigslist for violating terms of service.
Listpic lets you search items on Craigslist and displays the photo images, which makes for easy browsing. Craigslist maintains that its blocking of listpic is due to bandwidth drains and Listpic's monetization of the site with the use of its own ads. Craig himself posted in Craigslist forums last night that listpic would be blocked, citing the search company's disregard for Craigslist TOS, which state that services such as listpic cannot make money off of Craigslist content with the use of website ads. The amount of bandwidth resources listpic was taking up was apparently making search difficult for regular Craigslit users as well.
When a company like Craiglist becomes so large and influential as to create an entire ecosystem, it of course becomes more powerful. While Craigslist remains simple and uncommercialized, it demands much of the same from those that use its service. As Craigslist has seemingly warmed up to the idea of offering a thumbnail image search tool of its own, this also demonstrates the ease with which a larger company can implement the very features others build their businesses upon.