Here are some numbers that I just ran across. These are just numbers, guys, so please don't shoot the messenger, or wish the messenger to contract herpes, or threaten death to the messenger's children ... all of which seems to be the typical knee-jerk reaction when .XXX is mentioned here at GFY.
This data is drawn from a more comprehensive report apparently; but they're charging an arm and a leg for the report, and I haven't read the whole thing:
http://w3techs.com/technologies/deta...d-xxx-/all/all
What it shows is the percentage of websites using the .XXX TLD over time. According to the graph, 0.004% of websites were .XXX in March, 2012. And 0.012% of websites are .XXX today. That's an increase by a factor of 3 in a period of 9 months.
Everybody knows that many .XXX domains will be dropped beginning this month. Speculators are losing their enthusiasm because they haven't gotten rich quick. And some non-adult companies who were TRICKED into "protecting" their brand with .XXX will realize they've been duped and stop wasting their money.
But the number of developed websites seems to be increasing. I see no reason why anybody would abandon a .XXX website after they've built it. After all, a .XXX domain only costs $6 per month. The sticker shock of $100 a year ($71 to $75, for people who actually shop around) is a big drawback to .XXX; but, compared to other costs, it's a drop in the bucket -- and, in my opinion, worth it if you can get a really strong brand.
But the fact is that the number of developed .XXX sites is increasing. Those sites will probably get better over time too, once some of the better designers get involved and more content is added.
The general public doesn't give a damn whether they get porn from .COM or .XXX. They just want to find something that matches what they're looking for. .XXX is just as recognizable to them as .COM. And a premium .XXX domain still costs less than a premium .COM domain. So I figure that, as more .XXX sites come online, the consumer will spend more time on .XXX sites. Those sites will make more money, and more webmasters will (maybe reluctantly) get involved with developing .XXX sites of their own. The whole thing is bound to grow -- slowly at first ... but grow.
0.012% of websites on the internet is definitely a small number. But it's an upward trend. And given the number of websites that have been created in the past 20 years AND the number of websites that are STILL being added in other extensions ... just seeing a growth in percentage is actually surprising to me. I would expect the absolute number of developed .XXX websites to grow. But to see them taking a bigger share of the developed internet is something else.
This data isn't mine. I'm not 100% optimistic about .XXX. But numbers are better than hot air -- whether it's my hot air or somebody else's.