New York - Online social networks Facebook and Friendster this week both announced plans to begin offering users the ability to post free classifieds ads on their respective networks.

Facebook, which counts 22 million active users, was set to launch its Marketplace service on Friday, which will allow ads in categories such as Jobs, Housing, For Sale and Other.

Unlike Craigslist, the popular free classifieds site, ads on Facebook will not be anonymous, and buyers will see how they are connected to sellers.

Meanwhile, Friendster, which claims 40 million members worldwide, said it signed a multi-year deal with classified listings provider OLX to power free classifieds on its network.

Users can post and search categories of listings including Jobs, For Sale, Services, Vehicles, Real Estate, Personals, Community, Classes and Resumes, and narrow searches by country, state/region and city.

MySpace, the largest online social network with over 100 million users, has offered classified postings for since shortly after its launch.

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/11/technology/11facebook.html

http://tinyurl.com/2ddq6w (Friendster announcement)

http://www.facebook.com

http://www.friendster.com

http://www.olx.com