One of the world's leading internet companies, Yahoo! Inc, confirmed yesterday that it has entered the porn market, one of the most profitable sources of online revenue.
In a written statement Yahoo!, which is based in Santa Clara, California, confirmed it had launched an online store which sells hardcore pornographic videos and DVDs.
While pornography has been offered for sale online almost since the internet began, the companies providing it have usually been small-scale outfits, with major internet firms unwilling to associate themselves with such material. But financial concerns may have made the vast amount of money at stake too attractive to resist.
In the statement, Yahoo! said that "under stringent control, adult products have been available through Yahoo! Shopping". The company added that it had extended its efforts to block underage users from accessing the material.
Buyers have to provide an email address and credit card number which, Yahoo! says, is checked to ensure that the customer is not a juvenile.
The company would not discuss the financial implications of the move.
Yahoo!'s website is visited by 185m people a month and is one of the best-known internet firms. But it was expected yesterday to report a loss for the second consecutive quarter, a victim of the current downturn in the online economy.
Yahoo! may be hoping that that the rise in revenue from its share of video and DVD sales will offset any fall in advertising because of its decision. Advertising on Yahoo! had already fallen badly before the decision to enter the porn market became public.
Yahoo! currently offers 469 categories of sex on 3,407 sites. The site also offers a variety of porn films and fetish sites.
Other major internet firms have been wary of entering the explicit porn market. America Online said yesterday that it had no plans to change its current policy. Amazon.com does not promote porn material, although customers can find it if theyalready know its title. Blockbuster Video, which sells its products online, has also stated that it has no intention of moving into the field of hardcore porn.
The US porn market is already worth some $20bn (£14bn) and is growing fast, and the internet allows customers who would otherwise be too embarrassed to enter a porn video store to purchase material.
The pornography market in the US already accounts for the sale of some 185m DVDs each year and the market is expanding.
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