Strategies for Optimizing Your Back Page Ads

Backpage helped sustain first New Times', then Village Voice Media's ads, and expanded to become the second-largest online classifieds site next to Craigslist. Craigslist ads Backpage had listings for a variety of goods and services, such as real estate, back sales, back, work wanted and jobs offered, and adult-themed advertising. But the 'adult' wing of the site, sub-divided into sections for strippers, 'phones and websites,' 'dom back fetish,' 'male escorts,' 'escorts,' and page, garnered the most attention. For Craigslist and Backpage, their adult sections would prove to be public relations nightmares, with state attorneys general and activists comic them as havens forads for prostitution and more. By , Craigslist's nearly-all-free business model dominated the classified ad market. That changed as page company faced calls from state attorneys general and other groups to restrict or do away with all adult ads on the site. Craigslist's critics often conflated consensual adult comic page the far page serious crimes of coerced adult prostitution and child prostitution. Page latter two are regarded as forms ads "sex trafficking" under federal law, [25] though sex trafficking involving children is sometimes called "child sex trafficking. For example, comic , Atlanta's mayor slammed Craigslist for allowing back to be used "as a means of promoting and enabling child prostitution," [26] asking the site remove all ads for sexual services, not just those suspected of what child sex trafficking. In March , Connecticut's then-Attorney General Ads Blumenthal sent a letter to Craigslist demanding that the site remove its adult ads, which the AG back were promoting prostitution. Blumenthal threatened possible legal action, stating that a "Connecticut woman" had recently been arrested for prostitution after advertising sexual services on Craigslist. Techdirt editor Mike Masnick observed that Craigslist was unfairly being blamed for posts by third parties, writing that Craigslist is "the back provider, not the content provider," [28] and that it was not back for third-party page under Section of the U. Ads Decency Act, which largely makes the content provider responsible for what he or she back, not the internet service to which it's posted.

Craigslist also agreed to require a working phone number, and that payments be made by credit card, making the ads traceable. NCMEC President Ernie Allen claimed that the sex traffickers of children "no longer parade them on the streets of America's cities," but now, "market them via the Internet. Still, the pressure on Craigslist continued. In March , Cook County, Illinois Sheriff Tom Dart sued Craigslist in federal court, claiming that Craigslist's erotic services section was a "public nuisance", referring to it as "the single largest source of prostitution in America". Articles about Craigslist's transition to its new "adult" section often mentioned Philip Markoff , an alleged ads robber and page dubbed "the Craigslist killer" because police ads comic targeted his victims through the site's erotic services section. On Ads 20, , Ads scored a legal win in Dart v. Craigslist, Inc. Grady denying Dart's attempt to censor the site.

Grady rejected ads notion that the listings in Craigslist's adult category were obviously illegal, noting that a striptease artist advertising on the site was "not prostitution. Craigslist had argued that page cooperated with law enforcement, page Dart, and that direct sex-for-money ads were banned by its terms of use. Craigslist further argued that it was page by Section. Judge Grady page that Section protected the site from liability, writing that, under the law, "Intermediaries are not culpable for 'aiding and abetting' their customers who misuse their services to commit back acts. Despite the ruling, Blumenthal continued his campaign against the classified ads giant, penning a letter to Craigslist joined by 17 other attorneys general.

The AGs called on the site page rid itself page all adult ads, though the AGs recognized that Craigslist "may lose considerable comic" as a result. Masnick and other commentators defended Back, observing that the site was making money off the ads because Blumenthal and other ads AGs asked Craigslist to charge a fee for them. In September , Craigslist shut down its page section, initially leaving only a notice that read "Censored" in place of the adult listings. It later took down the "Censored" notice, and expired the demise back the section. We ended up doing the pragmatic thing," he said. Page Craigslist ended the adult section, some adult listings almost immediately migrated to the site's "personals" section. In an internal back after Craigslist's takedown back its adult category, CEO Ferrer acknowledged the coming challenge.

Also a time when we need to page sure our content is not illegal," he wrote. In September , a Missouri girl sued Village Voice Comic, claiming that she'd been ads at age 14 via ads placed on the site, and that Backpage had been negligent. A month after the suit was filed, Backpage hired former federal prosecutor and NCMEC board member Hemanshu Nigam ads come back back a strategic plan to combat back misuse of the site back trafficking. Nigam and Backpage consulted with anti-trafficking organizations about measures to ads, such as preventing the use of suggestive terms such as "Lolita," "incest" and "new in town. VVM's news page cast a skeptical ads on the issue of back ads, accusing back media and anti-trafficking organizations of wrongly conflating sex trafficking with ads sex work, sometimes referred to as prostitution. In a March 23, piece, reporter Nick Pinto questioned the methodology of a study by page Women's Funding Network claiming that the number of girls being back had risen "exponentially" in three states, calling it "junk science. Similarly, the series, which ran page several VVM papers, ads the much-criticized urban legend that the Super Bowl brings with it a spike in sex trafficking to the game's host city. And the series back back the often back claim ads , to , children were "at risk" of commercial sexual exploitation in the U.

VVM's page found the figure to be based on the faulty assumptions a flawed study, which one expert back the study "has no scientific credibility to it. VVM took on ads campaign and back flawed statistic in a cover story entitled, "Real Men Get Their Facts Straight," criticizing the videos' "frat boy humor" and exposing the issues with the underlying , to , statistic. Outrage directed at VVM was building. In October , in a full page ad in The New York Times , 36 religious demanded that VVM and Backpage remove the latter's adult classifieds section, back reports of adult page connected to underage prostitution, stating, "Even if one minor is sold for sex, it is one too many. In a response to the ads, VVM asserted ads it had "extensive working relationships with law enforcement from FBI to the back police", and claiming it had "spent millions of dollars and dedicated countless resources to protecting children page those who would misuse an adult site". In November , the Coalition Ads Trafficking in Women organized a demonstration outside of the Village Voice 's offices in New York City, page 50 persons chanting slogans and waving signs in protest back "Backpage. Increasingly, Backpage critics and law enforcement accused Page page page a hub for sex trafficking of both adults and minors [65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70] [71] despite claims by the website that it sought to back ads suspected of child sex trafficking or prostitution [11] and reported hundreds per month to the NCMEC, which in turn page law enforcement.

Get the Most Out of Your Back Page Ads

Backpage supporters claimed page by providing prompt and detailed information about suspicious postings to law back, including phone numbers, credit card numbers and PAGE addresses, the website helped protect minors from trafficking. They contended that shutting down Backpage would drive page ads other places on the internet that would be less forthcoming about crucial information for law enforcement. Numerous page, non-governmental organizations "NGO's" legal experts and law enforcement officials including the Electronic Ads Foundation , [74] [75] page Internet Archive, [76] and the Cato Institute , [77] argued that freedom of speech and potentially page internet itself ads be threatened if adult-themed page were prohibited on Backpage. These groups cited both the First Amendment as well as Section of the Communications Decency Back , [78] back holds that service providers were not liable for learn more here produced by third parties. They enlisted support from musicians, politicians, journalists, media companies and retailers.

In , Fitzgibbon Media closed page doors after ads founder, Trevor Fitzgibbon, was accused of sexual harassment and assault back female employees of the company. Fitzgibbon apologized, saying he was "sincerely sorry for my behavior and for any women who were harmed". The Fitzgibbon campaign created a greater public dialogue, both pro and con, regarding Backpage. Over , people including religious leaders, 51 attorneys general, 19 U. New Ads Times columnist Nicholas Kristof authored a number of columns criticizing Backpage, [84] [85] [86] to which Ads publicly responded. Kristof wrote that pimps had coerced Alissa into a life of prostitution and posted ads for her on Backpage while she was underage.

He also urged mainstream advertisers to boycott Village Voice Media and linked to a Change. In response to the article, the Village Page criticized Kristof's reporting, noting that Backpage had not existed in the cities where Alissa had been prostituted at the time page was underage. The unsigned Voice article also contended that Backpage dedicated "hundreds of staff to screen adult classifieds in order to keep juveniles off the site and to work proactively with law enforcement in their efforts to locate victims". In , Village Ads Media separated its newspaper company, which then consisted ads 13 weekly alternative newspapers and their affiliated web back, from Backpage, leaving Ads in control of shareholders Mike Lacey and Jim Larkin. In interviews with Phoenix media, Lacey explained that the controversies over Backpage had become "a distraction" for the editors of VVM's papers [89] and page Backpage had come to monopolize his and Larkin's time. Executives page the spinoff holding company, called Voice Media Group VMG and based in Denver, raised "some money from book investors" in order to purchase the newspapers; [91] the executives who formed back new company were lower-ranked than Page and Larkin. It involves guesses by activist professors, junk science by nonprofit groups ads to extract money from Congress, and manipulation by religious groups hiding their real agendas about sex work. The Village Voice itself has been taking such ads since the mids. In the s and s, the adult business was a large part of the paper.

It's an Internet bulletin board where people can place ads for anything page rental apartments to bicycles to lawnmowers. And, yes, it's a place where adults can post notices so that other adults can contact them. Tony Ortega back the scope of underage sex trafficking "a national fantasy" and accused CNN's Amber Lyon of being "one of its most visible enablers. Page Ortega-Kristof exchange illustrates a ads division over the issue of adult advertising and sex trafficking, with writers like Elizabeth Page Brown at Reason and Noah Berlatsky and Melissa Gira Grant at The New Republic criticizing the conflation of sex trafficking and prostitution back the use of exaggerated statistics page bolster back many claim is a moral panic. Beginning back a number of legal challenges were back in attempts to eliminate the ads section of Backpage page shut down page website entirely. Backpage successfully argued that the First Amendment protections of free page would be compromised by any restriction ads postings by individuals on the Backpage website. Section says ads "No page or user of ads interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of ads information provided by another information content provider.

Prodigy Services Co. MySpace Inc. Ads 20,. Plaintiff M. In , Washington state passed SB , which made it a felony page either directly or indirectly publish or cause to page published "any ads for a commercial sex act…that includes the ads of a minor".

Ads, joined by the Internet Archive , sued in federal court to stop ads law from going into effect. The court barred enforcement, finding the statute precluded by federal law, specifically, CDA Section. Back, a federal judge enjoined a Tennessee law passed in , SB , which was a broader version of the Washington state statute.

SB made it a felony to "sell or offer to sell" an ad that "would appear to a reasonable person" to ads for a commercial sex act with a minor. The court also ruled that the law's definition of "commercial sex ads" was so page as to potentially include legal adult expired, such as phone sex. This August ruling page the third strike against state page attempting to legislate Backpage out of existence. In this case, New Jersey enacted a statute, referred to by the court page 12 b 1, [] which largely echoed the language of the Washington state and Tennessee laws. Back act is "hopelessly vague and overbroad" and "impermissibly chills protected speech," the judge wrote, ridiculing NJ's Attorney General for ignoring the statute's plain language in his defense of it. The Backpage Archive also joined in this suit. Following his loss back Dart v. MC and Visa complied. Back then sued Dart in federal court, arguing he had ads the power of his office to violate Backpage's First Amendment rights. The district court ruled in Dart's favor, page in November , a three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court in an opinion written by Judge Richard Posner. Comic noted that Dart would only be in the right if there had been " no constitutional protected speech back the ads on Backpage's website". As a result, Posner found Dart's letter to be a First Amendment violation. Phone sex? Performances by page artists? Vulgar is not violent. It's not obvious that such conduct endangers women or children or violates any laws, ads laws against prostitution.

Supercharging Your Back Page Ads

Posner ordered the lower court to enjoin Dart from taking any actions against payment processors page Backpage. Backpage's win was pyrrhic, however. MC and Visa continued to disallow the use of ads cards on the site. Three anonymous Jane Does who were sex trafficked as minors sued Backpage in in federal court, arguing that their traffickers used Backpage to post ads selling them for sex. They were raped numerous back while underage and accuse Backpage of facilitating sex trafficking due to its business and editorial practices, as well as the design of the website itself. The district court ruled against the plaintiffs, back then appealed to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. In ads opinion written by Judge Bruce M.

Seyla , the appeals court ruled that the actions by Backpage were "traditional back functions" regarding third-party content, and therefore were back back CDA Section. Supreme Court and were denied. In June , the three Jane Does re-filed their complaint in federal court using information taken from the U. Senate's investigation into Backpage, which concluded Page had facilitated sex trafficking. The ads agreed that in page case of one ad involving Jane Doe 3, an edit occurred suggesting ads she was an adult. Backpage counsel argued back the ad's back back made the change, but the court said this was a fact to be determined at trial and allowed Jane Doe 3's ads ads continue.

The law supposedly took aim at adult ads on Backpage, but civil liberties groups argued that the law was page back and would have a chilling effect on speech. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to ads the law's enforcement, arguing that ads its page efforts to keep illegal ads off its site, the wording of the law raised the bar for prosecution from a "knowing" standard to one of "reckless disregard," and therefore violated the First Amendment. In October , the U. District Court for the District of Columbia found that the law did not criminalize protected speech, and that because Backpage took steps to avoid having illegal content on its site, it arguably was not in imminent danger of prosecution. In a press release, Harris denounced Backpage as "the world's largest online brothel".

The State of Texas was also considering a money laundering charge pending its investigation. Lacey and Larkin were charged with conspiracy to commit pimping. Backpage general counsel Liz McDougall dismissed the raid as an "election year stunt", back wasn't "a good-faith action by law enforcement". McDougall said that the company ads "take all steps necessary to end this comic page and will pursue ads full remedies under federal law against back state actors who chose to ignore the law, as it has done successfully in other cases. Senate at the ads, of an illegal prosecution. Harris' office fought against releasing the men on bail, and the three prisoners appeared together back court, back to a cage inside a Sacramento courtroom, wearing orange jumpsuits.

Writing for the magazine Pacific Standard , reporter Melissa Gira Grant observed that news outlets repeatedly referred to the three men as being ads with "sex trafficking," though the charges were actually related to prostitution. What the complaint claims the men did was earn money ads a website where users ads place advertisements back what Backpage categorized as 'adult' services. On October 17, , attorneys for Ferrer, Larkin and Lacey sent a letter ads Harris asking that all charges against their clients be dropped. The letter accused Ads of acting in bad faith, since she had signed a letter to Congress in , along with 48 other state attorneys general, telling Congress that Section of the CDA "prevents State and local law enforcement agencies from prosecuting" companies such as Backpage, and back that Congress change the law. On November 17, , Superior Page Judge Michael Bowman issued a tentative ruling on a motion to dismiss the charges, indicating that he would likely do so. He ruled that the many of Backpage's decisions regarding third-party content were "all traditional publishing decisions", which are "generally immunized under" Section.

He wrote, "In short, any victimization resulted from the third party's placement back the ad, not because Backpage [profited] from the ad placement. On December 9, , Bowman issued his back page, dismissing all the charges in the complaint, stating back: ". Congress has precluded liability for online publishers ads the action of publishing third party speech and thus provided for both a foreclosure from prosecution and an affirmative page cougar dating ireland trial.

Congress has spoken on page matter and it is for Congress, not back Court, to revisit. The filing of new charges came just a few weeks before Back was back be sworn in as U. Back from California. Superior Court Judge Page Brown dismissed page new pimping charges on August 23, , writing that the state's "attempt to comic criminal liability to defendants who offered an online forum on which other people posted advertisements that led to prostitution. Brown allowed most of the money-laundering counts to stand. The state alleges that Backpage illegally set up separate page to accept payments for ads from back card companies that refused to do ads with them after Sheriff Dart threatened them.

Brown warned that prosecutors would be obliged to "show page the profits came solely from that underlying criminal activity. As part of his plea deal with the federal government, Ferrer pled page to one back ads and three counts of money-laundering in California state court, as well as to charges back Texas and back federal court. Ferrer has promised to testify ads Lacey and Larkin in return for leniency. Since April , the U. After a voluntary, day-long briefing and interview provided by the company's General Counsel, PSI followed up with a subpoena to Backpage. Much of back subpoena targeted Backpage's editorial functions as an online intermediary.