Surrendering to the pressure of its critics saying that it has been facilitating prostitution across the country – Craigslist on Wednesday announced that it has decided to replace its "erotic services" section with a new adult category, which will be more closely monitored.

The popular source of free online classified advertisements, Craigslist stated that it is set to shut down its current 'erotic services' section and start a new section called 'adult services’.

On the company blog, the Craigslist Chief Executive, Jim Buckmaster stated that the company will eliminate the section featuring “blatant sex-for-money ads and pornographic pictures,” and will manually review every ad posted to the new "adult services" category. According to Buckmaster, the move is aimed to "strike a new balance" on the site.

Craigslist, which attracts an estimated 20 billion viewers worldwide a month for classified advertisements, has been under fire for its “erotic services” section featuring sex-for-money ads and pornographic pictures.   

Commenting on Craigslist’s decision to wipe out its "erotic services" section, one of the leading critics of Craigslist, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal stated that the announcement is "a solid next step, not a solution."

"Closing the erotic services section -- a blatant Internet brothel -- should lead to other blocking and screening measures, and set a model for other sites, if Craigslist keeps its word," Blumenthal added.