The most straightforward and reliable way to search craigslist across all locations is to use Google's advanced search features.
To make things simpler, we've built the small tool below that let's you directly search craigslist via Google.
We're also explaining how we did it - so you can expand on it if you need to.
Search All of Craigslist - with Google
Type your search below; and we'll run the search for you directly in Google.
This will return all craigslist ads indexed by Google, that were posted in the last week, starting from the most recent ones.
Search All of Craigslist - How does it work?
For our fellow Techies out there; here's how we're constructing the URL request sent to Google:
Whenever you launch a search with the above tool, such as a search for "ghetto blaster boombox", we're adding a couple of instructions to Google:
site:craiglist.org - This is something that instructs Google to limit the search results to exclusively craigslist.org.
In Google, you can directly type ghetto blaster boombox site:craiglist.org and this will return all craigslist ads that Google has indexed, and that contain the term "ghetto blaster boombox".
&hl=en - Next is to make sure that the results are in your language of choice. In our case English.
This is something that Google determines automatically, based on your browser's information, but that you can override in Google's Advanced Search options.
The way we do that automatically, is by appending the parameter &hl=en to the Google URL.
&tbs=qdr:w,sbd:1 - Last, but not least is to make sure that the results are sorted by date, and restricted to only the past week.
This is also something you can do manually when you run your search in Google: in the right side of the Google Search Result page, you can expand (via the "More" link) and select a number of options, including "Any time" or "Past week", "Sorted by relevance" or "Sorted by date".
The way we do that automatically, is by appending the (somewhat cryptic) parameter &tbs=qdr:w,sbd:1 to the Google URL.
After spending many hours on craigslist, running countless sophisticated searches, using specialized search engines to go beyond simple searches, and even building our own tool to monitor multiple craigslist search; we've created this small site to help others get the most out of craigslist.
Have questions or suggestions? Give us feedback!