In 1998, everybody was surfing the net with a 56K modem. One of the reasons I love this industry is that adult webmasters figured out how to optimize bandwidth-hogging content and still make money. We discovered secrets and dispelled myths about delivery over the web. Surfers really weren't that picky when it came to glossy porn vs grainy porn. It's not that sex fans didn't appreciate a hi-res image or video but their connections simply couldn't handle the huge files.
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"It's time to embrace the largess and promote the shit out of it. It's not that surfers still don't want their simple, easy access porn. It's that they want it bigger, better and more." |
Adult webmasters provided multiple images with thumbnail galleries and downloaded short video clips successfully by converting them to the format installed on the majority of computers. We availed the benefits of content compression as well as the avoidance of applications and code that required the user to install something new. We kept it simple and small and because of that, we ruled.
In 1998, everybody was surfing the net with a 56K modem. 2009 is almost half over and now, more than half the people surfing the net are surfing over broadband connections. Our gadgets may be getting smaller but our desire for web-related anything is bigger than ever. As our adoption of broadband has increased our appetite for bigger, better, faster seems to be endless. No more short, jumpy video clips we want smooth playing full-length movies. No more squiggly compressed pics, give us them to us bright and clear plus Vector-created graphics please. We demand Flash, live streaming, virtual 3D environments and High Definition anything. Today is light-years beyond 1998.
Have you shopped for monitors lately?
The screen sizes are crazy huge, not to mention the trend toward dual-monitors. Yeah, yeah, the mainstream press chatter about wee web-devices and short attention-span activities like watching YouTube or micro-blogging with Twitter but that's because the mainstream media and old-school entertainment industries are fighting for their lives.
Television, newspapers, magazines, the film and music industries, all have felt the pinch. People are turning to the net for everything and most people have the fast connections, machines and software to accommodate those needs. In turn, our televisions are bigger and sport HD. Our personal media options may come in the size of players and drives no bigger than a palm but their performance capabilities are massive. Our game consoles not only connect to the fast web but are delivered via devices and technologies that incorporate interactivity like never before. Online gaming communities and virtual worlds eat gargantuan amounts of bandwidth. Surfers want big processors, big monitors, big pipes and big fun.
Have you taken a look at the adult Internet lately?
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Big sites are bigger than ever and sponsors offer more to affiliates and potential members than any previous time. Finding a paysite that doesn't boast a multitude of member features and benefits is practically impossible. People that pay for online smut can expect full-length movies, gigs of static images, streaming/live feeds, games, social networking plus cell phone access and numerous other adult on-demand services.
Hell, even our industry stalwarts like our trade magazines and shows are massive and shiny. INTERNEXT couldn't be contained by AVN's Adult Expo and returned to it's trusted format as a separate convention. XBIZ World, the magazine put out by XBIZ, is published in jumbo size. The Phoenix Forum is livelier than ever and CyberNet Expo has returned in impressive style.
What does all this bigness mean to you, the little adult webmaster?
It means that you need to step up your game. Find a bandwagon you're not on and get on.
It's time to embrace the largess and promote the shit out of it. It's not that surfers still don't want their simple, easy access porn. It's that they want it bigger, better and more. Stop being afraid of what were once vices in our field. Don't be scared of Flash banners, server-side applications and video. If you're feeling stagnant in a once-profitable niche, look at it from the new perspective of today's broadband-happy customer.
Your trusted surfers are dying for fresh goodies and your potential new ones expect nothing less. Present-day porn customers aren't the skittish types from ten years ago. Millions of them are re-discovering the net, thanks to their screaming fast connections and pumped up PCs. Current cyberspace travelers are experienced and confident and they are your new target audience.
Give your surfers the porn they want - Bigger! Better! More!