As we all know, Craigslist claims the reason it won’t sell banner ads is none of its users requested the ads. Well, actually, they have.

Professional marketers are waking up to the buying power of users on the free classifieds site. Now businesses are trying to sell real stuff on the site. But what they post is often flagged as spam, and isn’t accepted as a legit ad.

Businesses aren’t going to give up that easily, so many resort to “spamvertising” techniques. Here’s how clickz reported it in a recent article:

The free classifieds site has become a venue for small businesspeople and marketers hoping to reach them there. Enterprising coders have created software to automate Craigslist posts, and consultants have made a business of advising sellers how to market on the site.

"Over the last two years, there's been a huge influx of professional marketers" using Craigslist, said Shannon Lewis, director for police auction site PropertyRoom.com, and author of "The Unofficial Craigslist Book, Proven Ways to Market Almost Anything Using Craigslist.org."

"Craigslist turns your neighborhood furniture wholesaler into an aggressive marketer."

Professional advertisers are Craigslist users, regardless of however unwanted they might be by Mr. Newmark. Instead of posting spamvertising, these advertisers should be invited to post real banner ads.

Newmark claims he’s sooo receptive to customers but ignores this obvious demand from one large group of them. Continuing to ignore the request will only further detract from the user experience for everyone.