The Future: Where Are We Going?

Sumrpal

Is it just me, or does the Online Adult Industry seem to be at a standstill?

There have been many 'big' announcements come across the wires this year, but it's just the same old, same old. There are many new sponsors, but they are offering the same type of affiliate programs (maybe with a wrinkle or two), the same type of paysites, in the same niches, with the same type of content, using the same processors. There are exceptions to every rule (Bang Bus and M.I.L.F. come to mind), but basically the word 'same' seems to be appropriate.

The second half of the 90's saw an amazing goldrush called Internet Porn. New programs and technologies were introduced at a torrid pace. Millions and millions of dollars were made, often with no effort at all. It was Nirvana for those seeking online sex and those selling it. Paysites were developed. Online processing was established. Affiliate programs were started. The online 'Free Sample Business Model' was born, which spawned content suppliers, TGPs and Linklists, huge growth in hosting and bandwidth networks, graphics companies, trade shows and conventions. It was amazing, extremely exciting and very lucrative.

But the 2000's have seen stagnation, in my humble opinion. What's new? I mean really new in the Adult Online Industry so far in the 2000's? Nothing. There is some light at the end of the tunnel, but it's a long, long tunnel.

Broadband networks are finally becoming widespread, though it is a slow, slow process. The use of "handhelds" is going to explode towards the middle of this decade. That is something you should get in on at the ground floor right now, but it's going to take a few years to fully develop. I recently read two mainstream online publications which sound promising. The first stated that the number of people accessing the internet with increase 10-fold this decade and the second stated that 50% of all internet access will eventually be done on "handhelds". Though in what form those "handhelds" will take is still up in the air. The 'flexible screen' has already been developed, which will probably be in wide use in a few years. Exciting stuff!

So, while the near future looks promising, the next couple of years are going to be problematic.

Again I want to refer to two recent mainstream news items, though this time they were on television. One told of a poll that was commissioned by the Republican party in the United States, asking the general public to list the priorities they would like the current U.S. administration to tackle in the second half of their term. The first priority named was terrorism and security, a very important priority, but hardly a surprise. The second priority named was internet porn. I'll give you a minute to let that sink in ....

This was an independent polling company, asking the general public from around the country at random, with the usual statistical accuracy. The citizens didn't choose the environment, or health, or education, or unemployment, as their second most important priority. Nope. They chose internet porn, by a wide margin. I am not going to be a scaremonger, but what I just stated is a fact, from which you can draw your own conclusions. Obviously the current U.S. government in power is going to pay attention to what these polls say. They want to be re-elected.

The second news special I recently viewed dealt with all the porn that children are subjected to when they are searching online for 'children' things, using search phrases that have nothing to do with our industry. The fact that some of our fellow adult webmasters are targeting children's keywords for their porn sites is disturbing. We should be dealing with these unethical webmasters ourselves. But that really wasn't what bothered me the most while watching this news special.

What made my skin crawl and my blood boil was the fact that the commentator lumped us in with child pornographers as being one and the same. The news story didn't make any distinction between us (adult webmasters, pornographers, etc) and child pornographers. In fact, the terms were interchanged at ease all through the news special. This is a problem. A big problem. A problem of perception, and we all know that perception often overtakes reality. Our industry desperately needs a single voice, an organization, to speak for us in order to change this perception before we all start being burned at the stake without trial. That is an exaggeration, of course, but you know what I mean.

I earlier mentioned the online "Free Sample Business Model" and all the innovative things it spawned. Unfortunately, like all good things (you know: ice cream, beer, chocolate, etc), it also has a downside. It's the free samples that have raised the ire of the general public and governments around the world, isn't it? They don't care (so much) about the online porn that is behind password protected screens. It's the freely accessible stuff that has made us the target of the media, church and state.

Free samples are necessary for us to use in our marketing efforts, but the practise has morphed into what I call the "Free Sample Business Model Gone Berzerk". For various reasons, more and more adult webmasters are pouring more and more free samples onto the Net every day. Free samples of bigger size, better quality and increasing hardness. And I don't just mean pictures. Videos, movies and live shows are all available for free, in quantity. It is hurting the industry economically. It won't kill the industry, but it's hurting it. We're walking away, leaving money on the table that could be in our pockets. Big money.

So, what does the future hold for the Online Adult Industry? Will the advances in technology open up huge new markets for our products? Will the U.S. government focus its' wrath on the industry and cause havoc? Will the glut of free samples lower the demand for paid product so much that revenue streams will dry up? Only time will tell. As always, this is an exciting industry to work in. Whether that 'excitement' turns out to be positive or negative is very much in our hands. What will we do?