Data included on this page comes from AIM Group and more complete details can be seen on the blog post, “Revenue from online prostitution ads steady in April.” These numbers are from June 2012 – May 2013.
The AIM Group tracks Backpage revenue from online escort and body-rub listings placed in 23 U.S. cities. Backpage.com, a general classifieds site, is the nation’s leading publisher of online prostitution advertising.
The AIM Group revenue estimates include only advertising in 23 of the 394 markets where Backpage.com offers localized sites in the U.S. Thus, its estimates of the company’s revenue from prostitution ads are extremely conservative. (Backpage covers 600 cities in 30 countries and territories, including sites in Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, the U.K., the Caribbean, Mexico and 12 countries in Europe, South America and Asia.)
- Revenue from U.S. online prostitution advertising totaled $5.1 million in April, a 56 percent increase compared with the same month in 2012.
- Nearly all of the increase is due to rate increases at Backpage.com, which generated $4.4 million from online prostitution ads in April 2013, about the same as the previous month but 68 percent more than the $2.6 million generated in April 2012.
- From May 2012 through April 2013, Backpage generated $35 million, 81.7 percent of the 12-month total in online prostitution advertising. From 2011 – 2012, Backpage generated approximately $22 million from online prostitution advertising.
- During April 2013, Backpage published 67,800 online listings for escorts and body rubs – both euphemisms for prostitution – in 23 U.S. cities. That’s about the same as the previous month and down 33.6 percent from 102,130 listings in April 2012.
