Is anyone surprised about where we are today?
 

I've been attached to the Internet for well over 15 years now. From trying to stop my content going on the Net to trying to get it every where.

Over those years the one constant theme has been the scammers. Firstly scamming content producers, then customers and now affiliates. Producers and affiliates have little choice, put up with it or get out. Until 2007 customers had little choice. Then Tubes hit the market.

So the question is are you really surprised about where we are today?

Or was it inevitable given the way we did business?

There is scammers in every business.

The internet just makes it worse by the level of anonymity people can have to easily rip you off and vanish as if they never existed.

What's this thread about?

I think he is basically trying to say "We made our beds, now we have to sleep in them"

Agreed.

There are scammers in every business and the porn business attracts more than it's fair share.

The ease that someone can put up a website attracts more than it's fair share too. Multiply the two and you have a potential shit storm. Add people who will do business with rogues and scoundrels and it becomes a real shit storm.

It probably was inevitable, but at the same time you can't help but being a little surprised at how things have turned out, and the direction everything is heading in...

adapt or die.

vanish and then run the same scam with a different domain / nick /etc a week later... rinse and repeat... :2 cents:

I was taken by surprise by some of the things that have been negatively impacting our industry. I always knew that there was thieves and scammers, but the proliferation of them and just how huge they became some quickly.... I was not prepared for that. But now they are just another variable to be factored in and tried to be exploited

it was inevitable - even without the scammers and thieves, the tubes, free file hosters like rapidshare and hotfile and torrents would have emerged. add on the damage the scammers and thieves have done over the past 15 years, throw in the horrible global economy and it's a perfect storm of shit raining down on us poor smut peddlers.

I remember some time back an old geezer claimed content was king .. build it and they will come.

I believed traffic was king, and if you had it you were in the box seat. The content would chase you, beg you, do anything for you if you had the traffic.

Looking back over the last 4 years, I would have to say I was right Paul ;)

crime and scamming only happens in internet porn.

bernie madoff had a tube.

There are scammers in every business. We have a low entry barrier - any one can get into business with a minimum amount of money down - and thus you get a higher percentage of scum.

please don't get him started.

it wasnt enivatable omg how do you spell that.. anyway, i grew up in non-nude, and back in the day there was a strong webmaster community and i never would have seen the decay that is today then...

Can we stop talking about the same thing over and over again?

Are you saying if sites had adapted and sold something the buyer wanted and was prepared to pay for he would not buy?

Tubes proved that traffic was easy to get. What pays for Tubes is conversions, what gets those conversions? Spot on, Content.

Yes you need traffic, but not as much as you need people to buy. Tubes don't exist on traffic, they exist on buyers. Maybe our view of how it's done, led to the downfall of so many.

But don't listen, lets keep going down the same road. Look where it got us. :Oh crap

Not really, I knew some corporations would try to take over the internet and grease a bunch of politicians but luckily the internet has lots of friends and will can fight it.

I knew content would eventually be free and that advertising and quality unique content would be the next big money maker.

Everyone knew niche was how to stay through a recession and it proved accurate.

I did think someone would come up with a better content protection system, something that doesn't require a download. But I can't talk since I couldn't do it myself.

And I always knew GFY would stay the adult board leader. :thumbsup

I just realised what I missed. You're totally 100% WRONG.

They built Tubes with CONTENT and they did come. They have the traffic because of the CONTENT they have. They pay for the Tubes because of the CONTENT their sponsors/supporters have. Yes it was easy to get the content. But not as easy as the traffic was.

Did they spend millions to get their traffic?

I got it after 5 minutes. Sausage will never get it.

This is only beginning, it will be worse

i think we are all suffering and depressed about fucked up sales and talking about it helps.. actually it doesnt help but wtf may as well

same topic, different day.

same solution: value content because i sell it.

http://www.ripoffreport.com

http://www.fathertimeonline.net/imag...-link_ttjk.gif

It actually took longer than I expected...

Where are we?

I actually make more.


Sabby:)

Probably cause you weren't making all that much to begin with. It's easy to "make more" when you're talking a relatively small business.

Last year my work as an affiliate of other programs fell from almost $560,000 in 2008 all the way down to a little over $200,000
That was a hard fucking hit no matter how you slice it. If it weren't for Claudia-Marie's paysite kicking ass, I could have lost everything.

I can't sell what's already free. :(

Not really surprised...

I fluctuate. depending on my effort and state of mind :)


Sabby:)