Yahoo Australia & NZ has admitted to using pornography on its online search engine as "one of the many" revenue drivers to stay afloat in this struggling Internet climate.
The company, however, was unable to reveal whether pornography contributed heavily to its bottom line.
"We don't break out how individual industry contributes to our bottom line," a Yahoo Australia spokesperson told ZDNet.
Industry reports described Yahoo's use of porn - which is one of the few profitable sectors on the Web - is a way of surviving the struggling dot-com marketplace.
Yahoo Australia & NZ stood firm on its decision to advertise porn on its Web site, saying it is a legal product.
"We've always accepted [pornographic] advertising for years.
"It's one of the many different industries advertised on Yahoo, just like the travel industry," the spokesperson said.
"The more I think about the whole porn/adult services advertising thing, the more I wonder why it really is being beaten up, given that so many other traditional media companies have no problems with it," she said.
The spokesperson added that adult content exists in mainstream media, such as local newspapers, and on all the television networks.
