Source: Reuters
By: Andrea Orr
(PALO ALTO, CA) — Internet media giant Yahoo! Inc, under pressure to develop new sources of revenue, said on Wednesday it is offering a broad selection of adult material, including hard-core porn videos and DVDs, through its popular shopping service.
But the company declined to confirm a Los Angeles Times report that it had dramatically increased its porn offerings in recent weeks. The Times reported on Wednesday that Yahoo had quietly relaunched its “Adult and Erotica” store and added thousands of new titles.
And in an interview on Wednesday, Yahoo President Jeff Mallett defended the company’s decision to include a broad selection of porn along with things like computers and apparel and children’s toys that are also featured on Yahoo Shopping.
“We’re hard and fast on being the largest enabler of commerce on the Web,” said Mallett. “We have chosen to offer adult-oriented content as part of that.”
A basic search of the word “sex” in Yahoo’s search engine directs visitors to a specialized area of its shopping service that lists thousands of videos sorted under several racy categories including “bondage and domination,” “hardcore” and ”fetish.”
Although Yahoo does not sell the materials directly, it partners with other merchants and typically gets a portion of the revenues generated from sales initiated on its site.
The company also charges retailers a fee to be listed in its directory, and, according to the L.A. Times report, charges adult-oriented sites three times as much as mainstream stores.
Porn Sites Popular On Web
Pornographic Web sites emerged in the early days of the Internet as one of the most popular destinations for Internet visitors, and porn remains one of the most viable Web business models today, since users are typically willing to pay for the material, and for the sense of privacy that comes from accessing it online.
Still, by investing heavily in this area, a mainstream site like Yahoo could face image problems, analysts said. Although most major Internet content sites link to mainstream retailers like Amazon.com Inc. that sell some adult books and videos, Yahoo is also partnering with more specialized porn retailers.
Several rival companies said on Wednesday they were keeping a greater distance from controversial porn material. AOL Time Warner Inc, for instance, said its policy is not to accept advertising for adult products and services. And Amazon.com said it draws the line at “mature content,” and does not stock any pornography in its video store.
Microsoft Corp’s MSN.com Internet media site has a similar policy. It said its online store eShop will promote what it deems “sensual products that enhance relationship building between partners and couples,” but not pornography.
And the Internet search engine AltaVista CMGI Inc said it does not include any adult-related products in its shopping index.
“I think our shopping site is meant to be a family-friendly area,” and AltaVista spokeswoman said.
Yahoo, in offering a broad selection of porn, stressed that it is making an effort to keep children off those areas of its site. Visitors cannot access the Adult and Erotica store on Yahoo until they enter a credit card number and other personal information.
