AIM Group | September 26, 2023 | Marketplaces
PHOENIX, Arizona --- Former Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer testified Tuesday under cross-examination that some ads in the notorious site’s female escort section may have...
Peter M. Zollman | September 20, 2023 | Marketplaces, Intel
The AIM Group sent executive editor Peter M. Zollman to Phoenix, Arizona, to cover the opening testimony in the trial of five former Backpage executives charged...
AIM Group | September 19, 2023 | Marketplaces
Post updated with Tuesday motions PHOENIX, Arizona --- U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa Tuesday denied a fourth defense motion for a mistrial in the...
Peter M. Zollman | September 15, 2023 | Marketplaces
By Peter M. Zollman PHOENIX, Arizona --- A federal court judge Thursday denied two motions for mistrials on the third day of testimony in the cases against five...
Peter M. Zollman | September 14, 2023 | Marketplaces
By Peter M. Zollman PHOENIX, Arizona --- U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa Thursday rejected a defense motion for a mistrial in the Backpage case, saying...
Peter M. Zollman | September 13, 2023 | Marketplaces
PHOENIX, Arizona --- Scott Spear, one of the Backpage.com defendants accused of facilitating prostitution, ordered his team to tone down the site as early as 2008...
Peter M. Zollman | September 12, 2023 | Marketplaces
PHOENIX, Arizona --- The owners of Backpage.com set it up in 2004 as a “clone” of Craigslist to profit from prostitution ads, and directly stole ads from...
AIM Group | September 05, 2023 | Marketplaces
By Joe Duhownik, Courthouse News PHOENIX, Arizona — The trial against Michael Lacey and other former executives of the notorious Backpage.com will continue …...
AIM Group | September 01, 2023 | Marketplaces
By Joe Duhownik, Courthouse News PHOENIX, Arizona --- Opening statements in the federal trial against the former owners and employees of Backpage.com ... had only...
AIM Group | August 29, 2023 | Marketplaces
Jury selection began Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix in the trial of Michael Lacey, a former owner of Backpage.com, and four codefendants who worked at...
AIM Group | August 28, 2023 | Marketplaces
With the Backpage trial starting Tuesday (Aug. 29) in Phoenix, Ariz., more than 40 journalists and prominent individuals signed an open letter calling on the...
Peter M. Zollman | August 09, 2023 | Marketplaces, Intel
Trial to begin on August 29 after numerous delays Former owner Jim Larkin killed himself earlier this month But five remaining defendants will be present PHOENIX,...
AIM Group | August 06, 2023 | Marketplaces
The federal trial for five defendants in the Backpage case will now start Aug. 29, a three-week delay, a federal judge ruled Friday Aug. 4. The defense had asked...
AIM Group | August 03, 2023 | Marketplaces, People on the Move
Jim Larkin, the co-owner of classified advertising site Backpage before the federal government shut it down five years ago, committed suicide this week —...
AIM Group | September 14, 2021 | Marketplaces
A federal court judge Tuesday declared a mistrial in the case of James Larkin, Michael Lacey and four other Backpage.com executives, ruling that government...
Peter M. Zollman | September 01, 2021 | Marketplaces
More than three years after the U.S. government shut down general classifieds site Backpage, it comes down to this: Were Michael Lacey and Jim Larkin, co-founders...
Greg Spencer | June 22, 2020 | Marketplaces
CityXGuide.com, a classified site specializing in prostitution ads, has been seized and its owner charged in a 28-count federal indictment, the U.S. Attorney for...
Brian Blum | August 26, 2018 | Marketplaces
The rise and fall of Backpage — the online publication that became infamous for its thinly-veiled prostitution ads and more recently for the arrest of its...
AIM Group | August 20, 2018 | Marketplaces
A U.S. representative claims sex-trafficking ads have been reduced by 90 percent since the seizure and closing of Backpage.com and the signing of a new law...
AIM Group | August 19, 2018 | Marketplaces
Sentencing is scheduled Nov. 19 for Dan Hyer, former sales and marketing director of Backpage.com, who pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Phoenix, Arizona,...
Anastasia Gnezditskaia | June 20, 2018 | Marketplaces
The second largest generalist classified site of France VivaStreet has closed down its escort section to prevent "abuse" by "some users." This happened in the...
AIM Group | June 04, 2018 | Marketplaces, People on the Move
The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into prostitution activity on VivaStreet France, France’s second-largest horizontal...
AIM Group | June 01, 2018 | Intel
• Craigslist traffic is down since the company eliminated personal ads • Annual revenue may be approaching the billion-dollar mark • The site has added fees for...
AIM Group | June 01, 2018 | Intel
We at the AIM Group have been reporting on the global landscape of classifieds and marketplaces for over 20 years, and our team of senior consultants and...
AIM Group | May 31, 2018 | Intel
Does a key filter in Facebook’s Ad Manager tool break the law? A class-action lawsuit against the social media giant says yes. The Communications Workers of...
Brian Blum | May 30, 2018 | Marketplaces
Does a key filter in Facebook’s Ad Manager tool break the law? A class-action lawsuit against the social media giant says yes. The Communications Workers of...
AIM Group | May 01, 2018 | Marketplaces
Seven people charged in connection with the Backpage.com advertising and money-laundering case have been scheduled for trial in January, 2020. Michael Lacey, one...
AIM Group | April 26, 2018 | Intel
• Backpage CEO pleads guilty, agrees to testify against his cofounders • The seizure of Backpage is having international repercussions as far away as New Zealand •...
Peter M. Zollman | April 13, 2018 | Marketplaces
The CEO and cofounder of Backpage.com pleaded guilty to conspiracy to facilitate prostitution and agreed to help the U.S. government shut the site down, the...
AIM Group | April 12, 2018 | Intel
The U.S. government seized local general classifieds site Backpage.com on Friday, following this up with an indictment charging seven Backpage employees with 93...
