Fairfax Media has accused News Corp of gutter journalism after the Australian claimed the company placed advertising for its property portal Domain on porn websites to boost revenue.
The publisher of Domain has angrily denied the story and sent the Australian a legal letter demanding News Corp provide all the information it has on the claims so it can investigate if it is a malicious scam.
“Fairfax Media’s property portal, Domain, is buying advertising space on pornographic and illegal download websites to inflate its audience figures and push through big ad rate increases under chief executive Antony Catalano,” the Australian reported on Monday.
The report by media editor Darren Davidson claimed Fairfax had advertised on hardcore porn websites featuring “young Asian women in various stages of undress being subjected to masochistic acts”.
The paper said Domain was “using greasy tactics to lure internet users from sites advocating pornography and other illicit actions”.
But Fairfax hit back on Monday morning, saying the Australian had printed the story despite being told it was untrue.
“News Limited has never had any shame about using their media platforms for attacks on competitors,” the Fairfax statement said.
“They dress up their bile as news and bore the rest of the industry with their seemingly endless appetite for gutter dwelling. We generally ignore it. Not today.
“The screenshots Mr Davidson provided to us late yesterday appear to be links from a porn site to Commercial Real Estate, our commercial site.
“We did not authorise any advertising, re-targeting or redirections and believe it is a malicious scam/bot.
“Our review this morning, and our technical partners have confirmed, that no advertising from us has been placed on porn or illegal sites.
“This obviously damages not just us but all legitimate media businesses.”
News Corp have been contacted for comment.
