Originally Posted by Libertine

The content delivery model (tubes) is significant because it made videos far more accessible. Streaming flash video players moved content to the browser instead of the media player, made content immediately available rather than forcing surfers to wait for downloads to finish, made having a single video on a single page the new standard, and concentrated content on a single site rather than merely listing and linking from a single site to many others.


But still, there are more factors.

One major factor that can't be overlooked is availability of content. Content has gotten *much* cheaper than it was just a few years ago, and the amount of content available in digital formats has also grown immensely. The former has helped legal tubes, by vastly lowering investments needed on content, while the latter has helped illegal tubes, by ensuring the continuous availability of fresh new content.

And finally, there's the matter of sponsor availability. Dating sites and cam sites are developed far enough to make them viable as primary sponsors, minimizing the need for conversions from porn sites. At the same time, there are still relatively few free alternatives to the paid dating sites, people haven't gotten so familiar with them yet that they know they're mostly frauds, and geo-ip advertising is still new enough to be somewhat effective. On the cam side, there still are relatively few free/paid hybrids, and enough "fresh" surfers to make advertising more effective than it would be otherwise.

There isn't just a single thing that changed it all. It's a combination of factors coming together at the right place and the right time