qwertyaccount 15793 Report post Posted January 30, 2011 http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/28/siu.selling.the.girl.''''''''/index.html January 28, 2011 3:06 p.m. EST When Craigslist pulled the plug on its adult services section last summer, it stepped out of a raging controversy over accusations its site had become a marketplace for pimps to sell underage girls. The ads left Craigslist, but they didn't go away. Many simply migrated to other websites, most notably, ''''''''.com. '''''''' is owned by the Village Voice Media group. According to internet research firm the AIM Group, the website's adult ad revenues jumped to $2 million in December, up more than 25 percent from the previous month. AIM Group founder Peter Zollman says the revenue jump is due in part to the fact that '''''''' is now charging more money to post ads under its "escort" categories. "They have taken advantage of Craigslist's departure from the marketplace, and they've raised their rates in a lot of places," Zollman says. "As a result, they've increased their revenue." The AIM Group also reports that overall traffic on Craigslist, the nation's most popular classified ad site, has dropped by more than 10 percent since it took its adult ads down. CNN investigated allegations that ''''''''.com is facilitating the sale of underage girls for sex across America, by providing a convenient and cheap marketplace for pimps who sell the girls and the men who buy them. CNN found cases of underage girls sex trafficked all over the country, from the suburbs of Washington to Las Vegas, where a 13-year-old girl was sold on '''''''' last fall, according to law enforcement authorities. She says she was advertised on '''''''' by a pimp, seeing four or five men a day. "It made me feel so nasty," she says. "I always just want a shower and get it off; I was like oh it's so disgusting." '''''''' and its parent company, Village Voice Media, have consistently refused CNN's requests for an interview. On the company's blog, '''''''' says it is taking steps to clean up the site, including reviewing ads to try to screen out underage women. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
