Talk:OLX

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Note
I am a paid consultant to OLX and have created this draft article for independent review as per WP:COI rules. I am a frequent contributor to Wikipedia and try to abide by the Wikipedia five pillars WP:5p to the best of my ability. Please let me know if I can be of assistance, answer questions or do additional work.BC1278 (talk) 19:26, 8 October 2016 (UTC)BC1278

Reducing promotional tone
A number of very specific suggestions were made by User:DGG to reduce the promotional tone of this article User_talk:BC1278:


 * 1. Try not to write as a string of short one sentence paragraphs. That's how press releases are written. The same goes for many short sections. A list of products or subsidiaries, for example, does not need a separate section heading for each of them.
 * 2. Avoid using the name of the company or person more than necessary. Again, that's how press releases are written. The best replacement is usually it, they, he, or she, which is ordinarily clear enough; but the firm or similar expressions (in lower case) are often acceptable for variation. Ocassionally of course with relationships between companies or peopel it is necessary to use the name in a brief form, but normally the name should not appear more than once per section or at most once per paragraph.
 * 3. Don't give referneces consisting just of the title and the link; include always the name of the source, so people can tell at a glance if it is a PR or PR-influenced sources, or from the subject's own website. When this information is omitted, it immediately suggests that they probably are. This is a mistake often made by beginners as well as promotional authors, but it always gives a suspicion that the referencing for notability will be a problem.  And of course try to use the company website as little as possible, and never include a reference from an obviously straight PR source, or mere mentions. Bad references detract from the good ones.

I have created a new OLX draft, as requested, at: User:BC1278/sandbox/OLX-rev.

I originally created sub-sections for some of the major markets because there are many dozens of articles every month specific to the product offering in various countries. e.g. India, Kenya, Philippines, etc. From the press in those countries. I was hoping interested users would develop these sections as they saw fit. This is a platform with 330 million monthly users, after all. But the updating hasn't been even across markets, so I collapsed it all into one section called "Marketplaces", though I kept each country mentioned as its own paragraph. I have a feeling a ton of country specific updates are happening in the local language Wikipedia editions.

I didn't just correct issues from my own edits. For example, someone else added a new sub-section on Tradus.com, which I reduced to a sentence, with new sourcing, and moved to History. Someone added a sentence that suggested OLX closed their site for Kenya, when actually they just closed the office. I fixed that. Someone added in the lead they are the largest in Portugal, without citation. I found no source to support that, so I deleted it. Someone added that platform is the largest in Ukraine and cited only to a dynamic page on Alexa, so I removed that. The years for the rebranding and merger in the Philippines were wrong, so I corrected that. Someone added that the company is headquartered in Amsterdam -- but that is not in the cited source for that sentence and I couldn't find any reliable source that said as much. It is in the footer of the OLX Group website but I removed it anyway because the only citation would be primary.

I also updated monthly users and added the purchase of the largest online car marketplace in South Africa.BC1278 (talk) 00:37, 27 June 2018 (UTC)BC1278

I seem to have been working independently along parallel lines to you. My main remaining concern is the paragraph, present in my version also because I hadn't decided what to do with it, is the paragraph about Oxenford's views on his firm--I do not see the logic of saying that because 3 billion people use the internet, it pays to advertise on television. A good deal of your version is better than mine, and I shall now proceed to merge the two versions.  DGG ( talk ) 15:04, 3 July 2018 (UTC)


 * On my proposed redraft, please note I replaced a handful of website URLs on the mainspace article with the one URL for the OLX Group. The live infobox has a very incomplete list of acquisitions or verticals, and not the main company website. Re: television. Some sources thought it interesting that a large internet business successfully did major marketing on television, which is rare these days. It's a contrary approach to the usual growth strategy of social media and Google. So I thought it was interesting fact to include, but it's hardly essential.BC1278 (talk) 14:57, 9 July 2018 (UTC)BC1278
 * Hi. Did you finish your edit of this article? If so, could you remove the flag on the article? I believe you said my rewrite was good and you were using some of it, plus your own edits. User:BC1278/sandbox/OLX-rev So I'm assuming the flag isn't needed anymore, if you're finished? Thanks, Ed. BC1278 (talk)BC1278

Request Edit
Hi. I am an experienced Wikipedia editor but have a COI here as a paid consultant to OLX.

A "news release" flag was added to this article in June 2018. Since then, I did an entirely new draft based on instructions by User:DGG and that editor adopted many of these requests, plus made many others. The article was already judged a "B" class quality article when it went through AfC, and contains extensive background about the subject from a wide range of international sources. This includes analysis, not just reporting of new events. I am, of course, happy to do even more work. But it seems like the "news release" box is no longer justified, in my opinion and I'd request it be removed. BC1278 (talk) 21:01, 25 October 2018 (UTC)BC1278


 * I've learned that I'm not all that good at negotiating content, as compared to just going ahead and fixing it I want to really apologize, , if you were counting on me for more than I performed--it's my fault, not yours'.  I have done a little fixing just now, but I consider it still reads promotionally, and I'm not sure anything I could do for a firm like this would really make it otherwise--this is one of the problems in writing about companies.  That will be the case whether or not the tag is present. Anyone who wants may remove it.  DGG ( talk ) 04:43, 27 October 2018 (UTC)

1. Remove promotional tag.

Why? This article has undergone extensive revisions based on requests of reviewing editors. I have asked if anything else can be done -- and the editor who made most of these extensive requests, and published many of them, has declined to remove the tag because he says that any Wikipedia article about "a firm like this" is inherently promotional. But he says "Anyone who wants may remove it." At this point the tag is being used as a critique of Wikipedia policies concerning all company articles (and whether they should be on Wikipedia), not to indicate that editors should respond by improving this specific article. There are no further improvements requested by this editor, who spent a great deal of time reviewing this article, including a complete redraft he requested I provide for him. This is a misuse of the tagging system, which is to alert editors to needed improvements, not to express general Wikipedia policy preferences or, to diminish the credibility of the article outside of current Wikipedia policy parameters.BC1278 (talk) 21:01, 6 March 2019 (UTC)BC1278

Reply 6-MAR-2019
The other reviewing editor said that "I consider it still reads promotionally" and I agree. The glowing reviews from Morgan Stanley (which, by the way, arent from Morgan Stanley per se, but are copied practically word for word from another source) is promotional. The detailed descriptions of what the subject's site offers also delve into promotional territory. Text such as "In India, OLX began to aggressively advertise in 2011" is textbook promotional language, along with "In addition to continuing free listings, the company in 2015 added priority space for premium listings. In 2016, it reported that 72% of all used cars sold in India were from transactions on its site. In 2016 this amounted to 200,000 vehicles with a value of $1 billion were sold monthly on the site compared to 95,000 cars worth $470 million in 2015." Text like that makes me want to go right out and sell my car in India. As these are all correctable problems, the tag is well placed directing others to correct it.  Spintendo   00:11, 7 March 2019 (UTC)

Request edit
Happy to respond with suggested fixes! I had exhausted specific requests from DGG.

Individual Countries

1. Delete the word "aggressively" in "In India, OLX began to aggressively advertise in 2011."

2. Delete: Morgan Stanley called OLX the "undisputed leader in India" in a 2013 report.

3. Delete: "In addition to continuing free listings, the company in 2015 added priority space for premium listings. In 2016, it reported that 72% of all used cars sold in India were from transactions on its site. In 2016 this amounted to 200,000 vehicles with a value of $1 billion were sold monthly on the site compared to 95,000 cars worth $470 million in 2015."

BC1278 (talk) 20:10, 8 March 2019 (UTC)BC1278

Reply 8-MAR-2019
Regards,  Spintendo   21:24, 8 March 2019 (UTC)
 * The article's promotional tone has been reduced.
 * The maintenance template has been removed.

COI Requests for OLX Group - May 2021
I have a COI and am desisting from making changes myself, but had some edit requests I feel would greatly improve layout (and lower down, some accuracy fixes). JeanetteM2 (talk) 18:57, 17 May 2021 (UTC)

Request - OLX brand vs. OLX Group
The page is currently structured for the brand, but includes just as much content for the parent company as the brand itself, also rolling in related brands that are owned by OLX Group but not OLX the subsidiary. Since OLX Group also meets WP:CORPDEPTH, I would say make a new topic for OLX Group, but since the brand content is pretty small and there's so much overlap as is, for now could we instead keep them together? I would request leaving the page name as is, but add a layout similar to this:


 * for OLX Group
 * Lead focused on OLX Group
 * History of both OLX Group and OLX brand
 * ''Details about the platform, maybe tech minutiae not suited for broader "history" section
 * ''Summarize brands like Avito and Autotrader
 * ''Details about the platform, maybe tech minutiae not suited for broader "history" section
 * ''Summarize brands like Avito and Autotrader
 * ''Summarize brands like Avito and Autotrader
 * ''Summarize brands like Avito and Autotrader

If a brand section is added, start with this content?



Request - Introduction Update

 * The introduction doesn't really explain the relationship between OLX Group and its brands. Perhaps add in:




 * Also, possibly change first few sentences (with the  removed for being 4 years outdated) from:



To the reorganized:




 * OLX brand paragraphs - the intro's last two paragraphs are very outdated, and place too much focus on one brand out of 20, namesake or not. Perhaps move the last two paragraphs to    ?

Request - New "Locations and Headquarters" Section
There isn't currently a summation of global dispersion on the page (that isn't random), so please add something akin to:



Request - Infobox Update
A number of updates are needed in the infobox, in part to change the details from the OLX brand to OLX Group.


 * New Logo: Please replace OLX brand logo with one for the parent org.
 * Link: https://www.olxgroup.com/brands/olx


 * Old Logo: Delete, or move  into page as thumbnail?


 * Founded: Remove  as it's inaccurate and not in page itself, change to 2016


 * Industry: Remove, as it's not common descriptor


 * Founders: Remove Grinda and Oxenford (more appropriate for infobox on just the OLX brand)


 * Key people: Change to
 * Link: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-safrica-naspers/s-africas-naspers-hires-airbnb-amazon-veteran-to-lead-global-classifieds-business-idUSKBN2BO4GY


 * Number of locations: 30+ countries (2021)
 * Link: https://www.olxgroup.com/story


 * Number of employees: Change to 10,000+ (2021)
 * Link: https://www.olxgroup.com/story


 * Parent:


 * Revenue:
 * Link: https://www.prosusreport2020.com/


 * Subsidiaries:
 * Link: https://www.olxgroup.com/brands


 * Please also add location city:

Request - "Criticism" Heading and Layout
Since I have a COI, I'm hesitant to ask for the removal of negative information or request significant modification of the "criticism" section. But, there are some layout issues that run afoul of the Manual of Style.

For example, the criticism heading runs afoul of WP:CSECTION. To fix that, either:


 * 1) The heading could be removed, with the content condensed into a paragraph focused on the 2018-2020 fraud/racist content developments before placed into the chronology of history (or the OLX brand section).


 * 2) Rename the heading. As WP:CSECTION recommends, maybe it could be changed to the less loaded "Fraud policies," maybe "Anti-fraud policies" or "Fraud management"?

Either way, the criticism is all focused on the OLX brand, not the OLX Group parent company, so possible to have the layout reflect that? If the heading is kept, maybe a layout like this:


 * (content)
 * (content)
 * (content)
 * (content)
 * (content)
 * (content)
 * (content)
 * (content)
 * (content)

Request - Merging "Individual Countries" and "History"
OLX having a separate "history" and "individual countries" section seems odd and redundant, since both are so international. Possible to merge them together in a chronology? To save time, feel free to use version I crafted a version below (I didn't modify any meanings or add/remove facts, just rearranged for readability.)


 * Yes check.svg Done PK650 (talk) 00:10, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

OLX brand and Naspers (2006-15)
Fabrice Grinda and Alec Oxenford launched the OLX brand in 2006 as a Craigslist alternative for the world outside of the United States.

OLX is the leading classifieds website for users in UAE (under the name of dubizzle.com), Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman and Qatar. Since its launch in 2005 by J.C. Butler and Sim Whatley, dubizzle.com has become the number one platform for users to buy, sell, or find anything in their community. dubizzle is an OLX company.

In 2006, it acquired Mundoanuncio.com, a classifieds site targeting the Hispanic market and in 2007, it made an investment in Chinese classifieds site Edeng.cn.

In 2009, the company partnered with social network Hi5.

Naspers acquired a majority ownership in OLX in 2010, as part of its classifieds division. Naspers increased its ownership share of OLX to 95% of the company in 2014.

OLX launched in Nigeria in 2012. The company purchased its Nigerian competitor, TradeStable. However, in February 2018 OLX announced the shut down of its Nigerian office and a complete pullout from Nigeria.

Philippines classified ads site Sulit rebranded as OLX in 2014. The merger in the Philippines between OLX and Ayos Dito redirected Ayos Dito users to OLX as of 2015. In April 2019, Carousell acquired OLX Philippines after receiving an investment from Naspers. The deal also gave OLX 10% stake in Carousell.

In Indonesia, in March 2014, OLX took ownership of Tokobagus.com, and rebranded to OLX.co.id. In July 2020, BeliMobilGue rebranded itself as OLX Autos in Indonesia

OLX Cashmycar, a joint venture between Frontier Cars Group (FCG) and OLX in India was announced in November 2018. This was offline expansion of OLX online platform. OLX Cashmycar launched its 50th store in February 2019. In December 2020, OLX Group launched OLX Autos in India. CEO of OLX Autos in India is Amit Kumar.

In April 2014, Naspers' Middle European classifieds site in Romania, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Hungary and Poland rebranded as OLX.

In September 2014, the Ukrainian classified Slando.ua rebranded as part of OLX Group.

In November 2014, Naspers formed a joint-venture with Schibsted to co-own OLX Brazil.

Formation of OLX Group to present (2016-21)
In Kenya in 2016, farmers reportedly used OLX to sell their produce and livestock, especially chicken and cattle.

In late 2016 it launched Tradus as a heavy machinery classifieds site.

OLX Group ceased its operations in Venezuela on September 11, 2018, due to complex political issues and lack of free dealing.

In 2019, Avito was the second biggest classifieds site in the world after Craigslist.

In April 2019, online classifieds marketplace Jiji.ng acquired OLX Group businesses in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and Nigeria.

In Pakistan, OLX receives nearly 30 million views per month.

In India, about 99% of OLX's listings come from used mobile and electronics, used home and household goods, and used cars and bikes. OLX's operations in India, like other online retailers, has attracted fraudsters and faced problems with people selling stolen vehicles. In combatting fraud nearly 25% of the car listings get rejected by its systems to protect users from fraud.

In December 2020, OLX Group launched OLX Autos in India.
 * References

my opinion

 * Since I've been involved in this previously, I'll help here. As I understand it, you are suggesting expanding the article to be primarily written for the overall group, with section for its various brands, including OLX. This is the sort of change that I almost always suggest for organizations, and sometimes carry out on my own, and I will say so on the page. As for the specifics, I am willing to make the basic changes, but I may not be able to work on the details.--I have too many competing priorities.  But I'll try to set it up at least. It will take a few days. As a start, try editing your draft of the history section thematically: acquisitions, de-acquisitions,, and everything else.  DGG ( talk ) 21:59, 2 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Has this request been completed? If not, what else needs to be done? Z1720 (talk) 19:29, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
 * {{U| Z1720} I seem to have let this slip. I'll do it in the next few days or so. Compared to some of what I am involved in, this is relatively straightforward, so it should be a nice change. As always, I'll rewrite on the basis of my own judgement, not necessarily incorporating your wording.  Thanks for  the  reminder.  DGG ( talk ) 20:13, 24 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi. I've been trying to go down the COI requests list and noticed your willingness to tackle this back in August. I'd be happy to give it a quick look if you're swamped, as I have some time on my hands this week. PK650 (talk) 02:23, 24 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Please do. I thought I wouldhave moretime; Ihave less.  DGG ( talk ) 04:39, 24 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Great, I'll see what I can do with the time I have at my disposal. PK650 (talk) 03:51, 26 September 2021 (UTC)


 * Hi. I've tried to tackle your extensive requests today. I think I've gone ahead with most of it with the occasional tweak. I have a few pointers for you. I was unsure if the new logo had been uploaded yet; I am needing solid citations for both the employee number, and the foundation year and location. These are just pet peeves of mine, as I often find they're either unreferenced or rely on company reports, which we should usually avoid. Finally, I noticed the OLX Autos India sentence was included in both sections, and needed clarification as to which would be more appropriate. I could've made an executive decision, but though maybe you'd present a decent argument as to which one would suit the article structure best. Hopefully we can wrap the edits up and I'll close the request as soon as we do. Thank you, PK650 (talk) 04:47, 26 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Hi PK650, thanks so much for taking the time! Concerning your three raised points:

1) "I was unsure if the new logo had been uploaded yet"

A: Not yet. I do believe the logo can be found on the company's official website, in the corner, and here are the logo terms of use 2) "I am needing solid citations for both the employee number, and the foundation year and location... I often find they're either un-referenced or rely on company reports, which we should usually avoid."

A: Will do, looked for press:

Employee #: 11,000+ (2021)

I looked for a newspaper mention of the 2021 employee number, and I think my google fu failed. I did manage to find 11,000+ as a number on the OLX Group main website, but I know that's not ideal as a source.

Foundation Year: 2016

It seems the press didn't really cover the name change - I did find OLX Group referred to in 2016 in Romania Insider. But the OLX Group does say it created OLX Group in 2016, I assume by changing the name of the holding company/division overlooking Naspers various ecommerce sites.

Foundation Location: ?

OLX Group was already an international entity when it was renamed in 2016, and so I'm unsure what to name as the founding location. Leave blank due to ambiguity?

3) "the OLX Autos India sentence was included in both sections, and needed clarification as to which would be more appropriate."

A: I'm so sorry, I perhaps omitted OLX Autos India when preparing requests? I don't see it in my recommended draft or the live page - but I imagine it might be perfectly fine to squeeze any such content into the history section, assuming the facts are associated with a date or particular incident. If you mean the OLX India content about fraud, I imagine that's fine to leave in History. I don't see it being in the newly created "fraud management" section as a problem either, though.

Let me know if I can help with anything else. Thanks again! JeanetteM2 (talk) 22:55, 27 September 2021 (UTC)
 * Thank you for the above. I've made sure the employee number, foundation year and location were not present in the infobox until secondary sourcing is provided. These can easily be supplemented if and when the time comes. I decided to move the OLX India 2020 sentence to the second history subsection, as I felt it a more appropriate fit, at least chronologically. Finally, perhaps I could add the logo once you go through the upload process. PK650 (talk) 07:31, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
 * I've closed the request, but feel free to create a new one once the logo is approved at Wikimedia Commons. PK650 (talk) 00:11, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

Request edit on 17 January 2022
OLX Pakistan is now managed and operated by EMPG group. OLX Southeast asia business is managed by EMPG
 * What I think should be changed:
 * Why it should be changed:
 * References supporting the possible change (format using the "cite" button): s 

202.59.79.34 (talk) 07:11, 18 January 2022 (UTC)


 * Red information icon with gradient background.svg Not done: The article doesn't currently mention EMPG at all, so it's not clear what you think should be changed. Please be specific about exactly what text in the current article you think should be removed, and what you think it should be replaced with.
 * For the benefit of any other editors, I believe the correct citation URL should be https://www.olxgroup.com/press/empg-and-olx-group-announce-merger-mena-and-south-asia-businesses – note this is also a first-party source, so I'd expect any text added would be either (a) of the form "OLX announced that ...", to make it clear there was no independent verification, or (b) supported by a separate independent source.
 * —me_and 08:50, 14 March 2022 (UTC)

Critiques and reviews
There seems to be a distinct lack of perspective in this article. The technology and choices offered by OLX in my area (Western Europe) are miserably inadequate, are antiquated at best, are anti-intuitive, and defy any and all logic. Craigslist almost two decades ago had this thing beat all to hell. I'm not a techie but there MUST be commentaries out there that others are aware of. There must be some interviews of the people in charge, the founders, etc. This article is unhelpful and frankly pretty useless. Blueistrue (talk) 12:11, 26 January 2022 (UTC)