As direct references to prostitution were not acceptable, the advertisements were carefully worded with euphemistic terms such as large chest for sale.
[11] In the Netherlands, the Internet had grown in importance by the mid 2010s as a platform for recruiting prostitutes' clients, with escort workers advertising their mobile telephone numbers online.
It has become simple and easy for independent escorts to create a personal website for the purposes of advertising their prostitution services.
[14] Punternet was originally the foremost review site despite adverse publicity from Harriet Harman[13][15] and Vera Baird[16] (see below).
[19] A feature of some early websites, particularly forums, were sections where safety warnings could be posted about dangerous clients, referred to as "dodgy punters" (and to a lesser degree, bad escorts).
[21] This money was to fund a 12-month pilot scheme run by UK Network of Sex Work Projects (UKNSWP).
Harman's actions did not result in the website being closed down; instead it received an increase in traffic due to the publicity generated.
[16][30][31] In January 2010 at a Westminster Hall debate on Violence against Women, then Solicitor General Vera Baird again called for the site to be taken down.
She said that website lacked adequate safety measures to ensure details which could put sex workers in danger were not revealed.
Additionally she expressed concern that some of the sex workers reviewed on the site might be underage or victims of trafficking or sexual assault.
[32][33] In 2010, Suffolk Trading standards started Operation Troy, targeting bogus online escort agencies.
[17] In February 2014, an unnamed Northern Irish woman successfully sued the website for unauthorised use of intimate photographs of herself.