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Bama · 12-12-2002, 11:38 AM

I actually had this question posed to me when Gary first took back the control of the domain. At the time I had access to some information to help come up with a business model for the domain such as traffic totals, banner displays and CTR's and revenue generated.

I had alot on my plate and didn't take the job but did toss out a few ideas based on the limited amount of infomation I had been given in respect for the direction the Kremlin team wanted to go with the domain. I felt that they had already decided the direction they were going to take with the domain and were looking for people who agreed with that decision. I didn't want to be in the position of moving one direction for people who thought we should be moving in another direction. A "yes man" is something I've never been accused of being! I'd heard good things about Gary and from my limited time of talking to his team think he'd be a great guy to do business with.

As far as the domain - well, it's going to make money. Anyone with this particular domain couldn't help but generate revenue. The real question is how much revenue is being left on the table and in my opinion - the new Sex.com leaves quite a bit. In this business - there aren't any doggy-bags.

For simple revenue generation without any care for an increase in traffic - Cohen had the better business model. A simple banner farm with limited overhead for bandwith and someone to sell the banner slots but even Cohen left a nice chunck of change on the table - but he didn't seem to care about that so that business model worked well for him.

From my conversation with the Kremlin crew - growth was a very big part of their plan and a wise choice I might add. The domain could be so much more - but I don't see the changes for growth potential in place yet. (Even with the new layout/design and ppc search engine model).

The front page SCREAMS for more revenue opportunities. Right now there are only 3 links at the top of the page and a side banner/text link position to generate revenue. I'd be willing to bet the CTR for those lnks are less than 8% of total traffic. The rest of the real estate is reserved for category and sub category sections of the ppc business model. Yes, those links take you to money but it doesn't guarantee that those clicks will generate revenue. Since the results are strictly ppc results most descriptions include a "join" price. If the user doesn't click on any links - there isn't anything there to generate revenue or traffic increase opportunities.

In laymans terms - there aren't any value added search results. The ppc model works if you backfill the results with free results as well. Only 10 results (on a page with 20 results) should be ppc results. Sex.com should have in place a system for traffic exchange with other websites where a webmaster is awared a certain $ value to his traffic and he gets placed higher in the results based on his "bank" total. In theory, a free website sending traffic in can have his link in the #2 spot for any keyword he chooses right along with the paid results. When a surfer clicks on the results links - half the results are free sites with free porn.

That makes a value added ppc search engine. They should also backfill results from other mainstream results so every search has 150+ results.

Sex.com doesn't produce any results for non adult search terms. Again, not every surfer is looking for "in your face porn" but that doesn't mean you can't generate revenue from them. Partner with a mainsteam company to provide those results.

This is just a quick rundown of some simple changes I'd make immediately. There is so much more that could be done but hey, I get paid to do this kinda stuff. If you're going to do the ppc model there HAS to be value added results where everything doesn't cost money or you lose repeat traffic - which for a free porn site may not be required - but is essential for ppc business models.

If I had to gamble, I'd bet sex.com hasn't seen a 15% increase in traffic in the 19 months it's been since I've seen the stats and I'd bet again that it's not generating 65% of the revenue it generated 19 months ago either.

Bama
ICQ 269762

12-12-2002, 11:38 AM
Bama Confirmed User Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Redmond, WA Posts: 2,727	I actually had this question posed to me when Gary first took back the control of the domain. At the time I had access to some information to help come up with a business model for the domain such as traffic totals, banner displays and CTR's and revenue generated. I had alot on my plate and didn't take the job but did toss out a few ideas based on the limited amount of infomation I had been given in respect for the direction the Kremlin team wanted to go with the domain. I felt that they had already decided the direction they were going to take with the domain and were looking for people who agreed with that decision. I didn't want to be in the position of moving one direction for people who thought we should be moving in another direction. A "yes man" is something I've never been accused of being! I'd heard good things about Gary and from my limited time of talking to his team think he'd be a great guy to do business with. As far as the domain - well, it's going to make money. Anyone with this particular domain couldn't help but generate revenue. The real question is how much revenue is being left on the table and in my opinion - the new Sex.com leaves quite a bit. In this business - there aren't any doggy-bags. For simple revenue generation without any care for an increase in traffic - Cohen had the better business model. A simple banner farm with limited overhead for bandwith and someone to sell the banner slots but even Cohen left a nice chunck of change on the table - but he didn't seem to care about that so that business model worked well for him. From my conversation with the Kremlin crew - growth was a very big part of their plan and a wise choice I might add. The domain could be so much more - but I don't see the changes for growth potential in place yet. (Even with the new layout/design and ppc search engine model). The front page SCREAMS for more revenue opportunities. Right now there are only 3 links at the top of the page and a side banner/text link position to generate revenue. I'd be willing to bet the CTR for those lnks are less than 8% of total traffic. The rest of the real estate is reserved for category and sub category sections of the ppc business model. Yes, those links take you to money but it doesn't guarantee that those clicks will generate revenue. Since the results are strictly ppc results most descriptions include a "join" price. If the user doesn't click on any links - there isn't anything there to generate revenue or traffic increase opportunities. In laymans terms - there aren't any value added search results. The ppc model works if you backfill the results with free results as well. Only 10 results (on a page with 20 results) should be ppc results. Sex.com should have in place a system for traffic exchange with other websites where a webmaster is awared a certain $ value to his traffic and he gets placed higher in the results based on his "bank" total. In theory, a free website sending traffic in can have his link in the #2 spot for any keyword he chooses right along with the paid results. When a surfer clicks on the results links - half the results are free sites with free porn. That makes a value added ppc search engine. They should also backfill results from other mainstream results so every search has 150+ results. Sex.com doesn't produce any results for non adult search terms. Again, not every surfer is looking for "in your face porn" but that doesn't mean you can't generate revenue from them. Partner with a mainsteam company to provide those results. This is just a quick rundown of some simple changes I'd make immediately. There is so much more that could be done but hey, I get paid to do this kinda stuff. If you're going to do the ppc model there HAS to be value added results where everything doesn't cost money or you lose repeat traffic - which for a free porn site may not be required - but is essential for ppc business models. If I had to gamble, I'd bet sex.com hasn't seen a 15% increase in traffic in the 19 months it's been since I've seen the stats and I'd bet again that it's not generating 65% of the revenue it generated 19 months ago either. Bama ICQ 269762 Last edited by Bama; 12-12-2002 at 11:46 AM..