Craigslist Spanks Hookers > under pressure from various government agencies is dumping it’s “Erotic Services” section .  The free for all Erotic Services category will be replaced with a new,”Adult Category” that will be monitored by Craigslist staff. So does this mean the end for Hookers on Craigs List?

Craigs List Hookers A Case Study in Online Advertising

Here is an interesting report from Ars Technica

Craigslist has been working hard to fend off criticism that it facilitates prostitution by implementing numerous measures to help curb Erotic Services listings. In November of 2008, Craigslist came to an agreement with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Attorneys General of more than 40 states to reduce prostitution on the site. In addition to a new phone verification system launched in March 2008, Craigslist began requiring credit card verification for each listing in the Erotic Services section. These two measures were meant to make posters more accountable for their listings, as Craigslist could blacklist phone numbers or credit cards that had posted “inappropriate” ads in the past. As a result, the company has apparently seen a 90 percent drop in Erotic Services listings, which, of course, was the goal.

Still, this wasn’t enough to satisfy… pretty much anybody in law enforcement. Craigslist continued to be a target for lawmakers and was even the subject of a lawsuit from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department in Chicago in March. And, earlier this month, South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster threatened the site with criminal charges if it didn’t close down Erotic Services before May 15. Meanwhile, Madigan and the AGs from Connecticut and Missouri discussed possible changes with Craigslist last week in hopes of convincing those behind the site to take further action.

Madigan’s and the other AGs’ approach apparently worked. “We’re very encouraged that Craigslist is doing the right thing in eliminating its online red light district with prostitution and pornography in plain sight,” Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal said in a statement to the Associated Press. “We’ll be watching and investigating critically to make sure this measure is more than just a name change.”

Craigslist has yet to publicly acknowledge these supposed changes, however, so it’s hard to analyze how it will affect the already-existing problem. Assuming Madigan’s description of the changes is accurate, it sounds as if Craigslist will be taking a more hands-on approach to moderating this new adult section of the site by approving each individual listing as it comes in. Once again, however, we can’t help but wonder what will stop potential prostitutes from going back to other, less-moderated sections (helloooooo Casual Encounters) to peddle their services.

Craigs List made an announcement on their blog defending their position, and pointing out that 100% of the money earned from the Hookers has been donated to a good cause! (Now that’s the spirit!)

As of today for all US craigslist 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.

Unsurprisingly, but completely contrary to some of the sensationalistic journalism we’ve seen these past few weeks, the record is clear that use of craigslist classifieds is associated with far lower rates of violent crime than print classifieds, let alone rates of violent crime pertaining to American society as a whole.

The relative safety of craigslist compared to print classifieds is likely due to some combination of:

* Measures such as blocking, screening, and telephone verification
* Community moderation via our flagging system
* Electronic trail ensures violent criminals are quickly caught
* Personal safety tips prominently posted
* Unusually high level of cooperation with law enforcement

Community moderation as exemplified by our flagging system is arguably the most successful system ever conceived for eliminating inappropriate activity from a massive internet community. Working in tandem with various other protective technologies, it is an inescapable force to be reckoned with for anyone set on abusing free internet communications across a broad array of posting types.

However, with respect to this new paid category for advertising by legal businesses, we will experiment with some of the methods traditionally employed in paid print classifieds.

We’d like to thank everyone who has provided helpful input over the past few weeks, all of which was closely considered:

* Our users, whose suggestions shape every aspect of craigslist
* Attorneys General, who provided valuable constructive criticism
* Law Enforcement officers nationwide, hugely supportive as always
* Legally compliant businesses wishing to advertise their services
* EFF and other experts defending free speech and Internet law

We are optimistic that the new balance struck today will be an acceptable compromise from the perspective of these constituencies, and for the diverse US communities that value and rely upon craigslist.

Note: Our announced intention to contribute 100% of net revenues for the “erotic services” category to charity has been fulfilled, and will continue to be fulfilled, notwithstanding criticism questioning our good faith in this regard. However, in light of today’s changes, and to avoid any future misunderstanding, we are making no representation regarding how revenue from the “adult services” category will be used. Our commitment to philanthropy remains, and craigslist will continue to develop its charitable initiatives.

A commenter on the  Craigs List blog “Amber Swallows” made this interesting observation:

I think this is a great step for craigslist. I can see how it will negativly effect people who abuse the use of the erotic section, posting for prostitution or offering services at crack head prices, but for people who are offering legal and legitimate business services, catering to the desires of an adult audience…I say BRAVO!
Over the last few years, especially the last two I have watched the quality of services steadily decline. The last straw for me was the posting I saw of a young woman offering her self for $40 for 15 mins. Her ad read “ANY HOLE YOU WANT” and her picture re enforced the saying it’s not lady like to spit. I mean come on…prostitution may be the worlds oldest profession, but there is a HUGE difference between a prostitute and a street hooker with internet access.

Although I do not engage in prostitution myself, I do know dozens of women who do. Being in adult entertainment for almost 6 years not much that surprises me. The best we can do is educate women on how to keep themselves safe and protected when they decide to take on such a high risk job. I only wish more states were as liberal as Las Vegas and realized that as long as prostitution is ILLEGAL it will always be a breeding ground of disasters. Once made legal, not only do you eliminate most of the underage activity that is so popular here in Atlanta, but you also have the opportunity to raise tons of tax revenue for a city that is always crying broke. Besides the issue of age and money, you have FAR less instances of women being pimped, you have regulations of business practices because the individuals have to be licensed and you can better enforce health screening. In adult films as well as in my fetish fantasy play, all of our models are tested for everything under the sun every 21 days. For those of you that are not familiar with A.I.M. (Adult Industry Medical), please do yourself a favor and check out their website at http://www.aim-med.org. Also be sure to take a look at http://www.sexcheck.org where you can look up current test result of individuals before you see them by using their stage name and any consecutive 4 digits of their s.s # or d.l.#. Incredible tool for those of you that are offering or receiving intimate personal encounters. Remember guys…safety first! - Ciao

Well put Amber… So what does the future hold for Hookers on CraigsList? We suspect it will be business as usual for the worlds oldest professionals!

It just shows that Online Advertising works, whatever product or service you are marketing!

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