Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common in newspapers, online and other periodicals which may be sold or distributed free of charge. Advertisements in a newspaper are typically short, as they are charged for by the line, and one newspaper column wide.

Publications printing news or other information often have sections of classified advertisements; there are also publications which contain only advertisements. The advertisements are grouped into categories or classes such as "for sale - telephones", "wanted - kitchen appliances", and "services - plumbing", hence the term "classified".

Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used by businesses, and are mostly placed by private individuals with single items they wish to sell or buy.

Classified advertisements are usually charged for according to length; the publications in which they appear may be sold or given away free of charge. Advertisements usually comprise text with no graphics, and may be as short as a statement of the article on sale or wanted and a telephone number, or may have more information such as name and address, detailed description of the item or items ("red woman's sweater, V neck, size 10, slightly used, good condition"). There are usually no pictures or other graphics, although sometimes a logo may be used.

Donald D. "Don" Lapre (May 19, 1964 – October 2, 2011) was an American TV pitchman. He became a multi-level marketing and infomercial salesman. His work involved product packages such as "The Greatest Vitamin in the World" and "Making Money Secrets".

Lapre was criticized as selling questionable business plans that often did not work for his clients. In June 2011, Lapre was charged with 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and promotional money laundering related to his Internet businesses. He was arrested on June 24, 2011, for failing to appear in court to face these charges. On October 2, 2011, Lapre died of an apparent suicide while awaiting trial in federal custody.

A high-school dropout, in 1990 Lapre and his wife started a credit repair business called Unknown Concepts. Lapre then began selling a 36-page booklet explaining how to recover a Federal Housing Administration insurance refund after paying off a home mortgage. He also began offering "900" phone lines. On TV infomercials in the early–mid 1990s, he claimed that by placing "tiny classified ads" in newspapers he was "able to make $50,000 a week from [his] tiny one-bedroom apartment".