Decrease in traffic on adult sites in Great Britain after the introduction of age verification

• Traffic on Pornhub decreased by 47% following the new age verification measures.
• The introduction of the verification led to an increase in downloads of VPN applications.
• Less regulated sites for adults experienced a significant rise in traffic.

Great Britain recorded a significant decrease in traffic on popular porn sites following the introduction of new age verification rules, according to data from the company Similarweb.

After the introduction of age verification on July 25, traffic on Pornhub, which is the largest adult site in the country, decreased by 47%. The number of daily visits fell from 3.6 million on July 24 to 1.9 million on August 8.

Other popular sites, such as XVideos and xHamster, also reported significant losses, with traffic decreasing by 47% and 39% respectively. Meanwhile, social media platforms that also implemented age verification measures did not report a decrease in traffic.

Along with the new rules, sites are required to prevent minors from accessing adult content. Ofcom, the regulator overseeing the implementation of the law, recommends various methods of age verification, including verification through credit cards, photo ID, and age verification via a selfie.

Critics point out that these changes may lead to users seeking content on less regulated and external sites, which could exacerbate the problem of access to unsafe content.

The introduction of age verification also resulted in an increased demand for virtual private network (VPN) applications, which allow users to bypass restrictions on viewing certain sites. VPN applications have become the most popular in the Apple app store in Great Britain following the introduction of the new rules.

Tags: Europe/Technology