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Craigslist Removes Adult Services Ads

Guest post by: Dennis Schooley

Article Overview: Craigslist has bowed down to pressure and removed its adult services section.

Craigslist Removes Adult Services Ads

Craigslist has bowed down to pressure and removed its adult services section.

The infamous section is now marked with a black bar labeled "censored." The San Francisco-based classified ads service had faced intense public criticism for its adult services ads. Last month, 17 state attorneys general wrote an open letter to Craigslist demanding that the ads be removed right away.

The attorneys general said that the growing public backlash against the ads were an indication that the Craigslist's adult services section was being viewed as a haven for prostitution. The attorneys general explained that since Craigslist could not screen the ads, the company should stop posting them altogether.

In May last year, Craigslist shut down its erotic services section after the arrest of "Craigslist Killer" Philip Markoff and charges were filed against the company for allegedly facilitating prostitution. The lawsuit was dismissed in October by an Illinois judge who ruled that the company could not be held responsible for wrongdoing committed by its customers.

Since Craig Newmark began the classified service in 1995, Craigslist has gained popularity for being the service of choice for various online classified advertisements - housing, personals, jobs, community, gigs, discussion forums and others. But popularity soon became notoriety after the company got involved in controversies and illegal activities by users.

In September 2007, a Minneapolis woman pleaded guilty in federal court to running an underage prostitution service through the company. The following month, the body of another Minneapolis woman was found in the trunk of her car after she responded to a job ad for a nanny. The killer, Michael John Anderson, was convicted of the killing in 2009.

In 2008, Craigslist announced that it would crack down on malicious ads by requiring those who post erotic services ads to provide a phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card.

In March 2009, a Cook County, Illinois Sheriff filed a lawsuit against Craigslist for consciously promoting and facilitating prostitution in its erotic services ads section. Craigslist explained it was impossible for the company to screen the huge volume of ads it receives daily nor was it required by federal law to do so.

In April last year, Markoff, a 23-year-old Boston University medical student, was arrested on suspicion of murdering masseuse Julissa Brisman. Markoff was also accused of robbing a female escort days earlier. He committed suicide in his jail cell in August this year while awaiting trial.

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Article Tags: ads, business, computers, internet, technology



Related Forum Posts
Re: New Famous Entrepreneur - Craig Newmark - Craigslist has got both positive and negative feedbacks although I admit I've used Craigslist as also one of my good references for finding listings, jobs, etc that'll benefit my business. Well, Craig has done a great job setting up this website and it was the people around who makes the bad impressions. I hope that won't hurt the whole Craigslist reputation though.
Re: Craigslist/Kijiji Sales - From my understanding, Craigslist is known as more of a place to buy/sell and find deals on products, rather than services. Personally, I would never buy a service from a seller on Craigslist (eg. a tutor, tennis instructor, etc) because there's nothing to measure credibility.
Re: Using Craigslist SEO to Promote Your Website - Hi Trent, I did do some of my own research and a lot of what I found was quite similar to what you said. They do have the no follow on links and flagging has become a problem. Since you've written a book on the subject, have you found an alternative to Craigslist in terms of using it as a tool for promotion? I know Craigslist is hard to top with its SEO-friendliness and traffic, but as entrepreneurs when a door closes we must open another!
Craigslist/Kijiji Sales - Would like to know who on this forum is having any success with generating business through Craigslist or Kijiji by posting ads there? What kind of business do you run and what do your ads state? I've been using the sites to generate leads for Foreclosure properties and I've been having some success. One of my Business Coaching client is a software developer and he's been having a lot of success with Craigslist - almost $7000/month. what's your view on it ?
I think Craigslist is better than Ebay - As a relative novice to selling online, I found that Craigslist is a very effective tool. In less than a month, I've sold over $800 worth of my excess tennis gear (which I was planning on getting rid of) and I haven't really lost much from my original purchase price. The postings on Craigslist are very search engine friendly on Google and I feel it's an easier site to use than Ebay (as a seller). Unlike Ebay there's no seller/posting fees on Craigslist and you're not even limited to selling to "local" consumers. I've had international buyers contact me and pay for the shipping costs. These buyers will pay me first via PayPal, and then I'll simply ship out their product and provide a tracking code (and the parcels are automatically insured for up to $100). Do any of you have any selling experience on either platform you'd like to share?


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