A 2006 WSJ article described this website as having “row after row of blue…hyperlinks & nary another color or graphic in sight”

On the June 24, 2025 episode of Jeopardy, the Final Jeopardy clue took contestants back to the early internet era with a prompt in the category “Websites.” The clue read: A 2006 WSJ article described this website as having “row after row of blue…hyperlinks & nary another color or graphic in sight.”

https://youtu.be/rWRr0WrtJNY

What is Craigslist?

The clue was drawn from a Wall Street Journal article titled Zen and the Art of Classified Advertising, written by Brian M. Carney. The piece described Craigslist’s famously barebones interface and offered insight into its philosophy of simplicity and function. While most websites evolved toward complex visuals and advertising-heavy designs, Craigslist stood firm in its refusal to conform. Its homepage, defined by blue hyperlinks stacked in utilitarian rows, came to represent an anti-commercial corner of the web.

Craigslist’s Purposefully Minimalist Design

Craigslist launched in the mid-1990s and quickly became known for its user-posted classified ads, covering everything from job listings to used furniture. As described in the WSJ article, the site’s appearance remained startlingly simple even as its traffic grew to become one of the top ten websites in the world by the mid-2000s.

This aesthetic choice was no accident. According to the Journal, Craigslist had been “aggressively passive” about monetization and expansion. While competitors in the digital space built flashy user interfaces to draw advertisers and investors, Craigslist retained its spare layout, choosing utility over profits. This approach not only made it accessible to users of all backgrounds, but it also set Craigslist apart as a function-first site in an era increasingly dominated by form.

A Giant with Modest Earnings and Outsized Impact

Despite being one of the most heavily trafficked sites globally, Craigslist generated relatively modest revenue—reportedly around twenty-five million dollars annually at the time of the WSJ article—compared to billions brought in by other top-ranked web platforms. But that was by design. CEO Jim Buckmaster and founder Craig Newmark made deliberate decisions to resist commercialization, leading to widespread admiration and criticism alike.

Craigslist’s refusal to run traditional display ads or pursue aggressive monetization strategies shook the newspaper industry, particularly in cities where Craigslist expanded. By offering free classified ads, the site undercut a vital revenue stream for print media. The Wall Street Journal piece pointed out how Craigslist became a “nightmare” for traditional outlets, highlighting how the site’s simplicity and free-to-use model disrupted a legacy business model.

An Internet Relic That Refuses to Age

Nearly two decades after the article was published, Craigslist’s layout remains largely the same—plain text links on a white background, with minimal color or branding. That design is now seen less as outdated and more as a feature of its identity. For long-time internet users, it provides a rare consistency in a web landscape that’s constantly evolving.

Its persistence is a case study in how utility and trust can outweigh visual design and aggressive growth strategies. Craigslist built its reputation not by dazzling visitors but by offering exactly what they needed—quick access to local classifieds, without friction or distraction.

A Fitting Clue for the Internet Age

The Final Jeopardy clue on June 24 invited contestants to recall not just a specific website, but a mindset from a different era of the internet. Craigslist, with its sea of blue hyperlinks and deliberate resistance to change, stood—and still stands—as a counterpoint to most commercial websites. The WSJ’s vivid 2006 description captured the essence of that digital ethos, and Jeopardy used it to great effect.

In the end, the clue honored more than just Craigslist itself. It nodded to a chapter of online history defined by simplicity, user empowerment, and the belief that a website didn’t have to be beautiful to be useful—it just had to work.