Luach.com is a Jewish community online bulletin board, sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Craigslist" in which members of the Jewish communities of more than 40 North American cities, or in Europe or Israel can post ads for real estate, jobs, cars, or other common classifieds. The site draws its name from the Hebrew word for "calendar," luach. The organization, which is run by Jewgle, Inc., is based in Paramus, New Jersey.
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Information can be posted on Luach.com for free. Posts remain for 30 days, unless they are renewed or otherwise removed by the poster.
Impact of Luach.com
Luach.com was the first site of its type after the Internet became a fixture in households in the United States. The site first covered just the New York City metropolitan area, then later spread to other American cities with sizeable Jewish communities and parts of Canada, Europe, and Israel. It is expected in the future that Luach will have separate sites for other parts of the world.
The free classifieds offered by Luach have been of concern to various regional Jewish community publications that make all or some of their revenue from premium ads. However, no publications have reported a significant loss in ad revenue since Luach started operating in 1997. Some publications that are supported 100% by premium ads have successfully started after Luach.com.
While many have been concerned about the potential of Luach.com as a site for spammers or the posting of scams or inappropriate information that members of the Jewish community would not be accustomed to, Luach has taken various actions to ensure the protection of posters and readers. This includes screening all potential ads before they are posted. In a disclaimer posted on Luach's site, it is stated that there is no guarantee that the ads posted reflect the values of the Jewish community.
To this date, there have been no known problematic incidents as a result of Luach.com.