Ning Sets Jan. 5 Deadline for Adult Sites to Get Out

PALO ALTO, Calif. — After giving its adult websites until Jan. 5 to get off its servers, social-networking generator Ning.com has sent out an email to adult webmasters that explains how to expedite the process.

Ning lets consumers and professionals build full social-networking portals, complete with profiles, comments, forums and other familiar features. Earlier this month, Ning CEO Gina Bianchini changed a longstanding policy and disallowed sites with adult content, though she offered no one definition for what constitutes "adult" content.

Bianchini acted against the wishes of Ning cofounder Marc Andreessen, who said that Ning should "let people fundamentally do what they want." On Ning, that wouldn't even include that many people — only about 1 percent of the 675,000 social networks hosted on Ning are adult-oriented.

Her actions have also drawn criticism from leading tech analyst Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.com, who speculated that Bianchini's actions were motivated by one thing: money.

"Ning uses Google for advertising, and Google doesn’t like adult content," he said. "That puts Ning on a bit of a slippery slope when it comes to defining what is and isn’t adult content. But presumably they’ve now drawn that line, and those 1 percent of networks that are on the wrong side of it have been notified. So pack your content, and get out."

Ning lets users instantly build their own social networks, and until this week, social networks built around adult or pornographic themes were allowed, but then Bianchini spiked adult networks in a blog post.

"Adult social networks don’t pull their own weight," she wrote. "Specifically, they require other social networks to work harder because they don’t generate enough advertising or premium service revenue to cover their costs. Plus, our ad partners aren’t big fans of the adult networks and therefore require us to identify adult networks or risk our healthy advertising revenue. We don’t want to be in the policing business and, unchecked, that’s where this is heading."

For more information, visit Help.Ning.com.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Wyoming Governor Signs Age Verification Law

Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed the state's new age verification bill into law yesterday.

2025 XMAs Awards Show Now Streaming

The 2025 XMAs awards ceremony, presented by Fansly and held Jan. 19 at the historic Hollywood Palladium, is now available for streaming on the XMA website.

Florida Bill Would Auto-Filter Porn for All Users, Not Just Minors

Florida lawmakers have introduced legislation to require manufacturers to equip tablets and smartphones with a filter that would prevent all users from accessing material deemed harmful to minors, to be automatically enabled on devices activated in that state.

TeamSkeet, MYLF Launch New Website 'Pervz'

Sister studios TeamSkeet and MYLF have launched a new website, Pervz.com.

AEBN Publishes Popular Searches for January, February

AEBN has announced the top search terms for January and February from its straight and gay theaters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Porn Fidelity Signs Exclusive Partnership Deal With NMG Management

Adult studio Porn Fidelity has signed an exclusive partnership deal with brand management firm NMG Management.

Nigeria to Ban All Porn Websites, Penalize Non-Compliant ISPs

Nigeria's House of Representatives on Tuesday directed its telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), to immediately block all porn websites across the country and to enforce that ban.

FSC Launches Action Modal for Adult Sites to Fight AV Laws

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) has launched its new action modal web script for adult websites to help combat state age verification legislation.

SkyPrivate Announces New Communications Options

SkyPrivate has announced new communications options as alternatives to Skype, which Microsoft is retiring in May.

Cruel Reell Joins Pineapple Support as Supporter-Level Sponsor

Cruel Reell has joined the ranks of over 60 adult businesses and organizations committing funds and resources to Pineapple Support.

Show More