Saturday, Sep 4, 2010    Text size: 

That figure represents one-third of Craigslist’s annual revenue.

The site replaced the section with a black bar that says "censored," about a week after a group of state attorneys general said there weren't enough protections against blocking potentially illegal ads promoting prostitution.

A statement from San Francisco-based Craigslist officials is expected in the coming days.

Last year the San Francisco based company removed its Erotic Services section and replaced it with a fee-based adult category in response to pressure from 40 state attorneys general. It also adopted a policy of screening every ad.

But numerous Craigslist incidences involving investigations with countless police authorities ensued since then.

And last week in a joint letter to Craigslist, 17 attorneys general said women and children would "continue to be victimized in the market and trafficking provided by Craigslist".

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster has defended the Adult Services section, saying that shutting it down would only force such ads to other parts of Craigslist and other sites.