The website was launched in 2004 by Village Voice Media, who was then known as New Times Media. It grew to become the second biggest classified ads website after the immensely popular Craigslist. While ads for certain sections of the website were free, others came with a cost. Using this business model, Backpage managed to generate enough revenue to grow at an exponential rate. The big push for Backpage came in 2010, when Craigslist had to shut down its adult services section. Since quite a lot of people were using the website for just that, they quickly moved on to the next best place. As a result, Backpage received an immense boost in traffic and paid ads. Revenue charts for 2013 and 2014 show the website generating more than $100 million per year! Since sex ad posts averaged to one million per day, it is safe to say that a large portion of those earnings came from them. Backpage ended up operating at 943 locations in 97 countries, while supporting a total of 17 languages. The website became the main place to go for booking professional escorts and all types of adult services. The strength of the online adult community was instrumental in Backpage’s success.
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After Backpage’s initial success, things started going downhill at a rather rapid pace. In 2011, the website started receiving accusations that it is in fact a platform for sex trafficking of both adults and minors. In response, the owners of the website started blocking ads they considered suspicious and provided all information on them to the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children). The organization then alerted law enforcement to act based on the data collected by Backpage. As a result, a nation-wide movement to boycott and shut down Backpage was born. In 2012, the movement started getting considerable support from various NGOs, who even launched a multimedia campaign to garner support for their cause. In the end, the anti-Backpage movement received massive help from numerous musicians, politicians, journalists, media companies, and even retail brands. The size and publicity of the campaign helped start a nationwide conversation, with people voicing their opinions for and against Backpage. With Backpage being the topic of many discussions and constantly in the public eye, legal action followed soon enough. The website received numerous legal challenges from parties who wanted to either remove Backpage’s adult section or shut down the website as a whole.Visit our Website and Social Media.
