Pornhub says age-verification drains 80 percent of its traffic, urges Google and Microsoft to intervene
Pornhub says strict US and UK age-verification laws have reduced its traffic by 80 percent. The company is now urging tech giants including Google and Microsoft to implement device-based age checks to streamline verification and ease growing privacy concerns.
Pornhub is reporting a huge drop in user traffic on its platform after stricter age-verification laws were implemented in the US and UK. The company claims site traffic has dropped by up to 80 percent in the affected areas as laws force adult websites to block users who do not submit a valid ID to verify their age. Now the company’s parent firm, Aylo, has reportedly raised this concern to tech giants including Google and Microsoft, urging them to intervene by building alternative verification processes, such as age checks directly into devices. The company argues that the current patchwork of rules is ineffective and is pushing users toward less secure corners of the Internet.
According to a report by Wired, in letters sent to Google and Microsoft, Aiello’s chief legal officer, Anthony Penhale, said the company supports the goal of protecting minors online, but warned that the current model is impractical. “Based on our real-world experience with existing age assurance laws, we strongly support the initiative to protect minors online,” they wrote. “However, we have found the site-based age assurance approach to be fundamentally flawed and counterproductive.”
Aiello argues that the fragmented landscape of verification laws has created operational headaches, while third-party verification systems force users to hand over sensitive data without offering clear safeguards. The company also pointed to a recent breach involving a major verification provider as evidence that storing ID and biometric information with outside companies poses serious risks to everyday users.
Pornhub says the consequences of these laws are already visible. According to Alex Keckis, vice president of brand and community at Pornhub, users aren’t just going offline — they’re going elsewhere. “We have seen a rapid increase in searches for alternative adult sites without any age restrictions or security standards,” he said, warning that traffic is flowing to platforms that operate outside Western jurisdictions and have no compliance obligations.
As a solution, Pornhub is calling for a simpler approach, urging tech giants to build age verification directly into devices. Under its proposal, phones, tablets and computers would verify a user’s age once, then transmit that information to websites and apps through a secure API. The company claims this will reduce data-sharing risks and establish a consistent standard for compliance. However, privacy experts warn that such a system would move the Internet closer to a universal digital ID, raising familiar concerns about surveillance and anonymity.
The company is also emphasizing that a coordinated global solution is needed. “Keeping minors away from adult sites is a shared responsibility that requires a global solution,” KKC said. “Every phone, tablet or computer should start out as a kid-safe device. Only verified adults should unlock access to things like dating apps, gambling or adult content.”
Aiello said current site-based age verification fails to achieve its primary purpose of protecting minors and argued that if tech giants are willing to build it, device-level verification could provide a safer, more privacy-preserving alternative.
