After coming under increasing scrutiny from various state attorneys general for the open prostitution listings in its “erotic services” category, Craigslist is now folding in the face of criminal charges. The company said in a blog post that it will replace the erotic services category with a new “Adult services” category where each ad will be individually reviewed before posting.
Existing ads in the erotic services category will remain for seven days, but already new ads are not being accepted in that category. People trying to place an ad in the adult category are reminded: “Ads suggesting or implying an exchange of sexual favors for money are strictly prohibited” and “Ads including pornographic images, or images suggestive of an offer of sexual favors are strictly prohibited.”
A quick glance at the erotic services section for New York City shows a lot of flesh with ads promising “IT’S NOTHING LIKE THE FIRST TIME!!” and “ASIAN HOTTIE . . . TO FULFUILL YOUR DREAM . . . WILLING AND READY.” Meanwhile, the adult services section for NYC is slightly less explicit. It has a lot more listings for “massages” and “sensual bodyrubs.” The first screenshot below is from an adult services ad, the second is the erotic services page. So much for truth in marketing.
Update: in a blog post about to go up entitled “Striking a Balance,” which Craigslist just sent us, the company states:
As of today for all US sites, postings to the “erotic services” category will no longer be accepted, and in 7 days the category will be removed.
Also effective today for all US sites, a new category entitled “adult services” will be opened for postings by legal adult service providers.
Each posting to this new category will be manually reviewed before appearing on the site, to ensure compliance with craigslist posting guidelines and terms of use. New postings will cost $10, but once approved, will be eligible for reposting at $5.
It also points out that its moderation system is “the most successful system ever conceived for eliminating inappropriate activity from a massive internet community,” whereas inappropriate listings in print classifieds can’t even be removed. Of course, there are also many more listings on Craigslist than in any single paper and up until now there has been no pre-posting review whatsoever, so I am not sure that is something to brag about.
I believe they were thinking of renaming it the Elliot Spitzer Category
Ha…This is actually kinda true.
The erotic services ads will find a new home under an alias category.
There is no stopping this type of behavior without major policing of all Craigslist ads or removing anonymity completely from the site by forcing user authentication against legit forms of identification (ala Paypal).
Give it time…
Internet is actually not a “public place” as such. Govt should not meddle with issues in private places.
To sell sex is one’s fundamental right. We will have to fight for our civil liberties, in so called free country.
adult services is better title than erotic services though. Good stkiking balance compromise.
Actually, the erotic services category was NICE, as it kept the prostitutes out of the normal w4m personals (leaving just pic collecting guys, gays, and jailbait). Now, in additional to spam ads directing me to other sites, I have to contend with girls pretending to want a date, who are going to ask for $300 when I show up with flowers. Fuck all y’all and your desire to quash the unquashable. All it does it get shit in your peanut butter sandwich.
They have found a new home in Beauty Services and it is very frustrating to us legitimate Salon owners. How do we stop it? I flag at least 20 a day but they keep coming back.
Have they renounced Holocaust Deniers yet? Otherwise, shame on them
so you guys finally decided to cover this…
ummm.. no more twtter stories for a minute!!
but porn/prositution is the oldest profession in the world!!
marriage is second!
Soon TechCrunch will report that CraigsList has banned any postings that advertise “Sensual Massage (Outcall only) by hot 22 year old who denies the Holocaust”
Doesn’t matter. For every “obscene” section they take down, sites like http://www.f2bbs.com will spring up.
@tom – actually, without getting too meta, marriage can be considered, at least in the historical sense, to be a form of prostitution, which ties it for first.
So what is an acceptable “adult” posting???
Pretty much every “adult” ad is a request for some sort of adult service, which is a banned item?
From what I gathered, advertisement of exchanging sex for money or “donations” is forbidden. Every other god-forsaken bizarre thing is a-ok.
The Craigslist thing is puritanical B.S. Sex is a personal choice. The role of govt is to protect individuals from harm, not push one man’s religion/values on others.
Religious based beliefs and preferences are fine and good – problem comes in when you use government to push your religious views on everyone else.
Having sex in implicit exchange for expensive gifts is perfectly legal. Having sex in exchange for a lavish lifestyle and expensive cars is legal. There is nothing wrong with exchanging sex for money.
This is all just religious based puritanical leftovers that is wasting an enormous amount of law enforcement resources. Those resources could much better be used tracking down real criminals and sex offenders not innocent people who have sex without harming anyone.
And the “it’s for your safety” angle is completely invalid.
Most crime attributed to prostitution is caused BY the laws to outlaw it. They just pretend it isn’t happening, and result in no oversight, no safety for clients/providers, mob rule.
Remember Spitzer… govt prosecutors run for mayor, etc. Follow the money and see who tries to get elected to what cushy job on this “achievement”. The Spitzer outing was great just to show the hypocrisy – because of how many sex-for-money cases he helped prosecute.
Have an awesome day!
Dan
@Mik – Domination is a profession in which someone (usually with boobs in latex) humiliates and brings non-permanent consensual pain to someone else (usually with a penis and no clothes). No sex involved, though money changes hands.
In most places, that exchange, outside of a public place, is totally legal. Technically, BDSM is a lot less violent than boxing lessons, which is another thing you can do that involves exchanging money for a beating.
I’m sure, beyond domination work, there are MANY other adult services (strippers come to mind), that while ’sexy’ are not considered to be ’sex’. Boudoir photographers would also fit this category – you get nice nude photos that turn on your man, which results in sex, but no sex takes place between you and the photographer (unless you can’t pay your bill).
Getting an idea for the possibilities yet? Or impossible to wrap your brain around?
Big opportunity for someone else to enter this market….wow
how am I gonna get laid now?
Only time will tell how successful this really is. I like how the ads are going to be monitored now even though they said in the past it’s
impossible.
Erick, who brought this news to your attention anway?
Actually, this story shows how out of touch TechCrunch is of late. Rather than do basic analysis, M.A. goes off on tirades about Facebook (while ignoring the basic arguments he uses on other services).
Craigslist is making lemonade out of lemons, by CHARGING for the same ads it once gave away for free, while adding a review.
Craigslist gets a massive win in terms of revenue, and keeps their street credibility by blaming the increased fees on the man.
Well, maybe. The adult scene says “oh shit!” to this, because now you have to pay for ads, and they haven’t changed the flagging rules accordingly. So, you could pay, and get flagged, and removed, and now you’re talking real money.
This move, ironically, could save local newspapers if they play their cards right… Now the classified will be the only safe place left to suggestively hawk one’s wares.
The whole thing is ridiculous, though. The people savvy enough to use CL to hunt for erotic services are well aware there are a ton of already-extant alternatives that will now become their “go to” source. What CL did was give some power back to providers by having such a low cost option to advertise (most of the other known sites charge a bit, or take it out in trade)…
But I don’t think you’ll see buckets of cash going into CL with this move – if it remains a popular posting place, then the money will go to pay the screeners. If not, then there will be no money. Either way, lose-lose.
good thing I kept my day job then!
I can not believe that Craigslist is folding. I would guess that even some of these government officials that are protesting and threating Craigslist use the site to find a “massage”. Why doesn’t Craiglist just charge to post these types of listings and use a credit card verification process to validate the age of users browesing through these listing. Does not matter how idiot proof you make something someone always makes a better idiot.
I think it makes sense on the long run
a sad day
The plural of “attorney general” is “attorneys general” NOT “attorney generals”
It’s “attorneys general”, Eric. And I didn’t even go to J-school.
Finally they did it it wasn’t really successful i used to see most of ads are spam and not actually real persons
Adult, eh? Does that mean I can get me some under 18s still?
Not a good idea to admit to underage solicitation with your full name and ip address…
OH IT WAS A JOKE! Yeah tell that to the attorneyS general…
get a brain moran.. i agree thats not too smart
You all are missing the whole point but I shall educate you… see here is the thing about hookers.. if they are any good you will only last a few minutes which makes the price way too expensive… and if they are not any good then why are you paying for it…
Sensitive conversation?
Because when you’re done, you get a nice shower, maybe some chit chat, and you LEAVE with no expectation that half your paycheck is their ‘due’.
Transactional relationships at their most clear-cut and easy to understand. Not the ideal for most, of course, but certainly as fucked up as social mores are in the US, it’s handy to have the option to lay someone beautiful without worrying “what it means/what could happen” down the line.
First they removed the sleaze from Times Square and now Craigslist. Where are we creeps supposed to go now?
way to sell out. one lunatic guy makes them want to changed policy of what literally made craigslist
Erick – I noticed in the screen shot that you’re using Surf Canyon’s image preview with your searches on Craigslist. As Potter Stewart once said, “I know it when I see it.”
From Surf Canyon’s privacy policy at http://www.surf...com/privacy.jsp :
—> Surf Canyon is the sole owner of the information collected by the Surf Canyon browser extension.
Obviously, whoever runs Surf Canyon is F*CKING DELUSIONAL!
NO login, registration or personal information is required to use our application. Furthermore, from our Privacy Policy:
1 – We are committed to protecting online user privacy.
2 – We DO NOT Share Personally Identifiable Information with Third Parties.
3 – The security of your personal information is important to us.
Apologies for the distraction from the subject matter at hand.
Craiglist could have done a lot to reduce the heat by just restricting age, and maybe checking for sex offenders on their erotic services section. My friend’s teenager regularly uses paypal tied to the 16 year olds bank account, and there is no age restriction on the issuance or use of credit cards.
sad, sad day for the web.
This means nothing, sites will still offer erotic, I just looked at a few like http://www.jicka.com and olx and both still have erotic services. The majority will just shift to these I bet
Are they stupid or what? Craigslist ask money now and it is an AD in the new adult section … do they expect people to know advertise for sexual favors in exchange of money… otherwise what’s the purpose of the ad…..
I couldn’t help myself and created a short video on this subject with Craig in pimp hat.
http://www.pick...m/videos/craig/
Dave Dugdale
lol Dave tooo funny. Good video.
I’m jerkin off as i write this.
What is stupid is that if someone wants to find a call girl they will find one. Just go to Google. Removing titles and names will not do anything. All this is, is Craig’s list adhering to responsibility and not wanting to pay free loader attorney generals fines, lawsuits etc. In this economy it seems everyone is suing everyone for a buck. Also I Googled to see impact from Craigs list, keyword has been impacted, wow. Check out classifieds website: Adoo.us, look at the responsible response for Adult services: http://www.adoo.../823/x/erotic=1
Very responsible, also they scare the heck out of you too.
Call girl services are not illegal. A ‘professional’ escort will never solicit you for sex.
If you have hired an escort to cling to your merry arm through dinner and a show and man juice gets popped in the room afterward the correct assumption is that this is normal, consensual sex that can occur legally anywhere after the ingestion of over-priced spaghetti.
Frankly, most people ‘pay’ for sex with dinner and a show anyway which makes the anti-prostitution conglomerate utterly out of step with mainstream reality.
Sex is always paid for- one way or the other.
I love paying for women!!!
I have an idea. Maybe the hookers could start posting ads as comments on TechCrunch twitter articles. What a great idea.
Maybe they should start posting ad’s under the “Skill’d Trade” category………
about time.
This is a sad day for the internets.
Ahhh cum on
Simply put if there were no market for these services, there wouldn’t be as many ads. Rather than (or in addition to) charging the people who post ads as some type of verification, they should make replying to those ads different so that the buyer has some sort of info on record as well.
If they make having a verified account necessary to reply to the ads, it would undoubtedly cut out a lot of illegal activity much faster than shifting the responsibility entirely to the “service provider.” Just going after one part of the equation will never do anything.
i give it 2 months before they find a loophole
And the noose tightens again for those of us who favor free speech.
As far as dodgy categories go, did they ever ditch “boston craiglist > when we meet i will murder you”?
Exactly. It’s a pipe dream to think that making hookers validate their ability to pay for an ad is going to make anything safer or less seedy
They should have done that a long time ago!
No one on tech crunch is getting laid anymore, I guess its time for adult friend finder everyone
What we should look at are the prostitution laws and not websites that could be used for prostitution. Most crime attributed to prostitution is caused BY the laws to outlaw it.
Check out Happy Endings? a documentary film on Asian massage parlors in Rhode Island where prostitution is legal.
No chance, they will find the next leak…..
As a female massage therapist/sexual therapist and more. I’m so offended by the title of your article!
hehe! Get over it!
This should have been done before. well , better late then Never.
sad…like the cleaning up of Times Square…
Where should I look now?
They are getting rid of Erotic Services and starting a new section called Adult Services. I checked that out and don’t see any difference on this page than what they had going on before. Wonder what the Attorney General will think about this??
How does Craigslist make money now? I thought a good portion of their revenue was from this section…
Just leave the girls alone. There are reasons why people do these professions. Bad relationships and lack of trust for normal relationships. Men do pay for it either way dinner or the other way. Marriage is legalized sex. Women in the the profession are no different of people than others. Society is so screwed up with their opinions. Sometimes people just do it for a short time when they have a bad time in their lives. Drug addictions is the sad part for girls that do it. College is other route and bills of course. It is a dangerous road to be on when doing it so it is the girls that have everything to loose. The government is such a hypocritical outfit. Just leave people alone shit this world should just worry about what matters keeping the peace. Who cares what consensual sex behind closed doors is. My ex bf used to use escorts before i met him and I still dated him. Oh well I pity the girls more than anything. Money is good but the attitude of the guys i bet is more bullshit. I would get paid good too if i had to do that.
Peace
From now on I’ll be posting all my erotic services as Techcrunch comments.
“Pasty one-armed white borg with oozing cyborg implants offers sensual rubdown, full release and assimilation. Incall only. Donation: 100 Roses.”
While it may seem off-topic I think these ads will go perfectly with the daily full release, erotic rub downs techcrunch gives to friendfeed and twitter.
69 comments! thats what im talking about
btw it says for money hmm what about for nintendo wiis?
just cuz they changed the name erotic to adult services doesn’t mean jack, people can still post in the personals…im sure most of the personals are prostitutes anyways…pretty lame, masking the situation doesn’t fix it, i need to find a new classified site, all this prostitution and human trafficking is annoying…
just checked out jicka.com is just a skinned gui of craigslist…weak sauce.. and olx…they got 28.7 mill or whatever inf unding and i’ve never heard of them… OLX? what kind of name is that? can someone make a cool classified site? ebayesk? without having to pay? geez