Online classified ad site Craigslist will drop its “erotic services” category, which a number of state attorneys general had said was often used for prostitution.

This newspaper ran a story in April condemming the ads as a magnet for under-age prostitution rings.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal made the announcement on his office’s web site.

On the San Francisco Bay Area site for Craigslist, no new “erotic services” ads had been posted for Wednesday, May 13. Eight ads had been posted under a new “adult services” category by 8:15 a.m. Wednesday.

Craigslist employees will “manually review every ad posted” in the new category, Blumenthal’s office said. Stricter controls will be kept over what is posted.

Some critics questioned whether the change would be enough, and even Blumenthal said this is “not a complete solution.”

“We’re not going away: we will monitor this site and others to make sure prostitution and pornography do not migrate and move elsewhere,” Blumenthal said.

New rules say ads “cannot suggest or imply an exchange of sexual favors for money.” However, an ad posted Wednesday morning in the adult category did still offer “sensual massage” — often a code for sexual services.

Ads in the adult services section will cost $10 for a first posting, and $5 for repeat posts. Previously they had been free.

Craigslist, which is based in San Francisco, did not respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, the business criticized what it called “sensationalistic journalism."

A woman’s murder in the Boston area recently led to some media reports naming a suspect the “Craigslist killer” because he supposedly found his victim by an ad on the site. The Craigslist help forum had many posts Wednesday from confused or angry users about the changes to posting rules and the elimination of the erotic services category.