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[ # ] Craigslist vs CityPages Escorts
April 1st, 2008 under Media


Warning: Less safe for work than a typical Deets post, but that normally doesn’t stop you from surfing from work, so why should this? You’ve been warned.

Who profits more from prostitution: Craigslist, who allows escort to advertise for free, or CityPages who charges escorts to run ads. Melissa Gira Grant is reporting at Valleywag that the Connecticut attorney general is trying to shut down the erotic services section of Craigslist. While that sounds reasonable considering that it’s highly unlikely that anything legal is going on in that area of Craigslist, the response from Craigslist is also quite reasonable where they suggest that at least they’re not PROFITING from the display of prostitution ads, unlike old school YellowPages and alt-weeklies like CityPages.

I decided to see if there was a local angle on this that would help illustrate the point. Here’s what I found.

Brown Sugar Baby

Brown Sugar Baby (aka Sunshine) is a hard working local girl who’s been doing some advertising on Craigslist.

Hershey Kisses on Backpage

Hershey Kisses (aka. Sunshine) is a hard working girl who’s been doing some advertising on the CityPage’s online classifieds known as Backpage.com.

Is it just me, or do Brown Sugar Baby and Hershey Kisses look familiar? Take as much time as you need to compare.

Googling Sunshine and Sunshine’s phone numbers brought back two results:

Google Results

Would you look at that. Craigslist and Backpage both return results for the same number.

Want to place an ad on Backpage for Sunshine? Here are the steps:

Backpage.com's Fees

It costs $5 to post an ad on Backpage in the “minneapolis / st paul female escorts” category, yet it’s free to place the same ad on Craigslist.

I’m sure a few of you are thinking, “Yeah right, Backpage, is associated with CityPages? Oh, Please.” Well, here is CityPages’ take on it:

Citypages = Backpages

It sounds like the CEO of Craigslist has a point. At least Craigslist isn’t making money off prostitution while our local alt-weekly is.

In fact, CityPages goes as far as providing incentives to escorts to get other escorts to advertise their escort services in their classifieds:

Prostitution Referrals

I don’t know if there is really a winner here, but I have a feeling that it’s not CityPages.


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    Read the Comments

    [ # 5007 ] Comment from RoboSheep [April 1, 2008, 8:03 am]

    I’d have to say the prostitute that only spends $5 on advertising for a service that according to other craigslist ads runs between 100 to 200 dollars an hour is the one that’s really profiting.

    [ # 5009 ] Comment from Jeremy [April 1, 2008, 8:32 am]

    For me, nothing will replace the escort ads in the print edition of CP. “Hot TS, 36DD with an 8 inch surprise” Oooh! I love surprises. I’ll bet it’s a hardcover copy of Great Expectations.

    [ # 5010 ] Comment from kohler [April 1, 2008, 9:06 am]

    I suppose it would be a surprise to people who don’t look up TS before paying a visit.

    [ # 5035 ] Comment from Greg [April 3, 2008, 7:25 am]

    I assume CityPages content gets proofed, so you’re really paying for a “second pair of eyes” on your ad before it goes live. Haha. And that begs the question, whose crappy job is that?

    [ # 5043 ] Comment from CL Hater [April 3, 2008, 8:20 pm]

    i hate every inch of the craig’s list “personals” sections. there’s a lot of illegal shit that goes on in the “casual encounters” section, too. it’s not just the “erotic” section that houses illegal activity.

    i’d like to see it all go away. not because i’m a puritan or hate the thought of prostitution, but because it’s ruined many relationships and lives during the course of it’s history. i know first hand.

    [ # 5047 ] Comment from Turkey Bucket [April 3, 2008, 10:25 pm]

    I think I went to high school with Brown Sugar.

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