I'm not a regular here - not on much at all. But just looking at some of these provider websites and reviews recently and it seems like bareback sex is a thing now? Did something change? It seems like it's been mostly Asian sites and reviews or is this a new trend in general? This seems crazy - what am I missing?

To each there own but I think I can safely say this is NOT a new trend in general. 17 yrs in the biz I am still shocked when someone openly offer it

You aren't missing a thing. Anyone who is into BBFS should have their heads (both of them) examined . The Asian agencies have been known for this for a long time now. It's pretty disgusting IMHO, but like Henry Ford said, "There's and ass for every seat".

Supply & Demand both move to Market Equilibrium.

its not a general trend EXCEPT with the under $400 asian world.    however it has always gone on with a modest percentage of the independent ladies,  usually saved for a regular tested partner,  the key difference is it was taboo and not even talked about.     in general do NOT expect that from an Indy lady especially if it's your first time seeing her.    

Give it a couple of years...The risk won't be worth the reward

Not likely - like riding without a helmet.  
Here's the current rundown of who's what's and hows:
Listed PrEP's are those other than wrapping that rascal which is 99% effective
Viral STI's:  
Herpes - can spread by either skin to skin contact or by bodily fluids. You get it; it's your friend for life. No known PrEP , TasP  or PEP.
HPV - Skin to skin. PrEP - vaccine, Once you got it - you got it.
Hepatitis ABC - all transmitted by bodily fluids.
  A: PrEP - vaccine, TasP - vaccine if caught early. Usually immune system fights it off and it clears in several months - monitor liver function
  B: Prep - vaccine - but limited to young folks. TasP and PEP. Treated with anti-virals - can do severe liver damage if untreated.  
  C: No PreP -you get it - you got it. TasP/PEP anti-virals can be effective. If chronic you're screwed. Need maintenance for life.
HIV - Bodily fluids. PrEP, TasP &PEP all available and all have major side effects and are expensive - no real vaccine but PrEP's have been pretty effective.
Bacterial STI's:
Chlamydia - Bodily fluids. No accepted PrEP or TasP but anecdotal evidence that using a low dose of doxycycline daily is effective. Note: you can probably get your dentist to prescribe as a prophylaxis for gingivitis or periodontitis. PEP is a week or so of doxycycline or a couple of days of azithromycin
Gonorrhea - bodily fluids. Talk about evaluation - this bad boy is always in development of new strains . PEP only - shot in the ass of the antibiotic ceftriaxone
Syphilis - see Gonorrhea and change PEP to penicillin. There is some thought that daily low dose antibiotics may provide some protection but no clinical on it.
Parasitic:
Trichomoniasis - Bodley fluids. Nasty little critter. What's fun here is that 70% of those infected don't know it for as much as a month before symptomatic.  Once identified is easily treated with metronidazole for a week.
Let's be careful out there.......

Check out the porn star board here...... Recently, a guy posted a list of online p*** stars who will go BBFS. And there were dozens of replies, thanking him for the list. Or asking him to send it to them privately......  

It's ridiculous the risks you put yourself at but what about your civilian partners?

If she gets knocked up.

I was pretty shocked when I read the first BBFS review a couple of years ago, but it has since become a robust (if small) segment of the market.  So far it seems to be 100% the K-girl section of P4P, but it has grown, not diminished. It's now at the point where the K-girl ads explicitly advertise BBFS. Seems like asking for trouble--if not from some new LE initiative based on public health (i.e. mandatory condoms in porn) then from all the lovely diseases being spread around. Not to mention, for someone such as me who loves DATY, you couldn't wash thoroughly enough to get me to go down on you after you've let 5 guys before me drop their splooge in you.

I do not offer BBFS because safety is a priority to me as a single parent. I know many providers offer BBFS because they feel it will keep them coming back. Many hobbyists are married & if your engaging in BBFS with SW’s your increasing your chance of getting an STD and bringing it home to your better half that’s not right. If you’re not married do what you like. Your body your right. If you looking for BBFS I am not the provider for you. I offer PSE & GFE. I am clean and safe.

I do not offer BBFS because safety is a priority to me as a single parent. I know many providers offer BBFS because they feel it will keep them coming back. Many hobbyists are married & if your engaging in BBFS with SW’s your increasing your chance of getting an STD and bringing it home to your better half that’s not right. If you’re not married do what you like. Your body your right. If you looking for BBFS I am not the provider for you. I offer PSE & GFE. I am clean and safe.

Yeah, that thread was an eye opener!!  I’m actually glad when I see that a provider here on TER, either through a review, or threads like the porn star thread that NTL mentioned, provides BBFS - that’s an easy way to exclude them from my list of possibles.  There was one non-porn star provider in Las Vegas that I really wanted to see a few years ago and several of her reviews mentioned that BBFS was available.  It was a very easy hard pass for me.  

He's local and infects our MPLS board frequently.  Many of us are hoping he's a wannabe who just gets off on pretending he's a real player but who knows.  Others say he's a trust fund guy with $$ to burn.  He claims to spend $30K/yr on the hobby.  The scary part is that his self-pronounced fetish is bareback with absolute strangers...it's the thrill of the unknown that gets him off.  Be aware!!!

I offer PSE but it's ans extra fee AND I require std testing.  

That’s the way to do it. Love it

unless you request otherwise .. the porn labs do NOT test for herpes  ( attitude is everyone in the porn world already has it)  nor trichomonas  ....   both are STDs that potential girls i paid to get tested have tested positive for  

Also, It's a risk for pregnancy..... etc

I dont care what any other mf likes or wants, why should I? Like the dudes that make much less $$ or more $$ than me, it doesn't affect what is on my plate. I may talk shit about or let us say laugh at some cats' true desire for Jumbo sized beached whales, but really, who gives a fuck, they  are going for what they want. I have been lucky with the ladies since a very early age, and very lucky. Like you probably wouldn't believe. Doesn't matter doesn't mean shit. But I can say this, for he most part, nearly every woman I've been with whether mature goddess, cheating slut wife or gf, nice girl, bad girl, rich girl poor  one, smart dumb, giant tits, porn star(yes I've been with a few) semi famous ladies I still can't believe, hooker slut prude, coworker boss  what ever (none of this is brag, because, in the end, it doesn't add up to a hill of beans, but some memories in my piggy bank & those ladies that found me to be exceptional, or not) point is, just about every chic I have ever been with has chosen independent of me, for I never brought it up, to take me raw, and most often cip. Now most women I have been with are NOT HOOKERS, and I don;t believe they are slut whores taking every cock they can, i find most women I've encountered were actually quite stingy with their love box, as opposed to "easy"   When I was younger was the most emphasis on rubbers, and those chics were paranoid(just as I was) of pregnancy. I get tested a lot. Like you wouldn't believe as I have access to that sort of health clinic and the MD knows of my active lifestyle, I have luckily NEVER EVER caught a thing. Knock on wood.   I was with three exceptional women last week 2 were model quality but past the age at late 30s to very early 40s. The third is very attractive, but not model level. One of the three wanted covered sex, but before I came the 1st time, she pushed me out and pulled it off and screamed some arousing dirty  demands at me.   Talk shit all you want I don't give  a fuck,  You are no better than I am. Whether you have been with the same chic your whole life or many, I don''t care, If you care about what and how I fuck, fuck you I am not spreading shit around and I am not fucking anyone you would ever fuck, and if I am, you wear a rubber so you got NO WORRIES. In my mind if you still don't like that, it the fact I dump loads where they are supposed to go, it must be something else, and that is something YOU NEED TO DEAL WITH. As others have said here, it will always be happening, and I will say one thing, it feels so hell a better than with a condom,  You women know it but won't put it out there for all to see, you might give open candor to a good friend or a lover or potential fuck, right?  I am not trying to convince anyone of anything,  again, it doesn't matter at all, what  ever how ever you go about it, why would I at all even want to know, I Got better things to consider than how other people fuck. But for you that don't have something better, contemplate  this:  how to 2 really fat fucks FUCK? seriously, I don't mean thic a few extra or big bones bs, I mean 2 whales. ok I don;t I cant even wont  even picture this but you will, just take two tennis balls put side by side and you know where the good parts are at. so how do they EVER meet ehh? doesn't seem possible with human anatomy and the laws of  physics  and possibly thermodynamics. I don't want to know but you can solve this, if you are stumped then what would chairs look like if our knees bent the other way?      

Not for me. I will NEVER see a provider that allows this. In other news.. we are doing well. Fucking Crazy I Married a Provider from this site.

I don't think it's a new trend at all or that it will go away any time soon. The only thing that has changed is that there are good systems to advertise and share this information, where before it wasn't really the case.

It isn’t new. I figure if anyone has a problem with it use a condom,dental dam,full face shield.