trends

Adult Around the World

In his bestselling book,"The World is Flat," Thomas L. Friedman argued that globalization has resulted in a level playing field in terms of commerce, where all competitors have equal opportunity in a global market where historical and geographical divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant.

This holds particular true to those of us engaged in the online adult space. Thanks to the universal reach of the web, we all have access to a global audience. And what is more, the allure of pornography has universal appeal, too.

But whilst the whole world might dig porn, it is important to remember that each territory demonstrates a propensity to its own particular niche: the U.S. might get off to L.A.-produced factory porn, but the rest of the world does not necessarily share the same appetite for such material.

For example, the Brits tend to prefer edgier, less glossy porn and are partial to 'dogging' — a euphemism for engaging in sexual acts in semi-public places such as a secluded car park, or watching others doing the same.

As for the Germans, they tend to be partial for all things fetish; with extreme niches such as watersports selling particularly well there. And, unlike the Brits, they have a very open and tolerant attitude to nudity generally, with mixed-sex spas and swimming venues being the norm there.

If anything, Germany's neighbor Austria demonstrates an even more voracious appetite for all things fetish, with hardcore material having been freely available at newsstands long before the advent of the Internet.

Gay material seems to convert particularly well in Arabic-speaking markets, not least since being homosexual is considered a crime in such countries. Somewhat hypocritical really, when you consider that Persian kings used to pleasure themselves with boys half their age there. The result? Gay Arabs have little choice other than to go online to satiate their carnal desires, as our Alexa ranking in such countries bears witness: Phone billing works well there, thanks to a combination of low credit card penetration and the level of anonymity that phone billing offers such surfers.

Interracial porn seems to convert well on traffic from African countries, whose Internet penetration is miniscule when compared to the rest of the world and therefore represents a huge growth opportunity as we look forward to the future.

If you are already selling any of the niches alluded to and want to increase your bottom line, just remember to communicate with prospective customers in their own native language. Whilst the pics and vids we peddle transcend national boundaries and need no translation per se, when it comes to the important bit — paying you — pitch your prospects in a language they understand: theirs!

Also bear in mind that most of the world does not have credit or debit cards, so you should consider making alternative billing such as ours your primary, not secondary, processing mechanism in conjunction with traffic from such countries.

Doing so will allow you to make more money in the flat 'always on' interconnected world in which we all now live.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

opinion

How to Halt Hackers as Fraud Attacks Rise

For hackers, it’s often a game of trial and error. Bad actors will perform enumeration and account testing, repeating the same test on a system to look for vulnerabilities — and if you are not equipped with the proper tools, your merchant account could be the next target.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

VerifyMy Seeks to Provide Frictionless Online Safety, Compliance Solutions

Before founding VerifyMy, Ryan Shaw was simply looking for an age verification solution for his previous business. The ones he found, however, were too expensive, too difficult to integrate with, or failed to take into account the needs of either the businesses implementing them or the end users who would be required to interact with them.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

How Adult Website Operators Can Cash in on the 'Interchange' Class Action

The Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement resulted from a landmark antitrust lawsuit involving Visa, Mastercard and several major banks. The case centered around the interchange fees charged to merchants for processing credit and debit card transactions. These fees are set by card networks and are paid by merchants to the banks that issue the cards.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

It's Time to Rock the Vote and Make Your Voice Heard

When I worked to defeat California’s Proposition 60 in 2016, our opposition campaign was outspent nearly 10 to 1. Nevertheless, our community came together and garnered enough support and awareness to defeat that harmful, misguided piece of proposed legislation — by more than a million votes.

Siouxsie Q ·
opinion

Staying Compliant to Avoid the Takedown Shakedown

Dealing with complaints is an everyday part of doing business — and a crucial one, since not dealing with them properly can haunt your business in multiple ways. Card brand regulations require every merchant doing business online to have in place a complaint process for reporting content that may be illegal or that violates the card brand rules.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

WIA Profile: Patricia Ucros

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Ucros graduated from college with a degree in education. She spent three years teaching third grade, which she enjoyed a lot, before heeding her father’s advice and moving to South Florida.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Creating Payment Redundancies to Maximize Payout Uptime

During the global CrowdStrike outage that took place toward the end of July, a flawed software update brought air travel and electronic commerce to a grinding halt worldwide. This dramatically underscores the importance of having a backup plan in place for critical infrastructure.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Need for Minimal Friction in Age Verification Technology

In the adult sector, robust age assurance, comprised of age verification and age estimation methods, is critical to ensuring legal compliance with ever-evolving regulations, safeguarding minors from inappropriate content and protecting the privacy of adults wishing to view adult content.

Gavin Worrall ·
opinion

Account-to-Account Payments: The New Banking Disruptor?

So much of our industry relies upon Visa and Mastercard to support consumer payments — and with that reliance comes increased scrutiny by both brands. From a compliance perspective, the bar keeps getting raised until it feels like we end up spending half our time making sure we are compliant rather than growing our business.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

WIA Profile: Samantha Beatrice

Beatrice credits the sex positivity of Montreal for ultimately inspiring her to pursue work in adult entertainment. She had many friends working in the industry, from sex workers to production teams, so it felt like a natural fit and offered an opportunity to apply her marketing and social media savvy to support people she truly believes in and wants to see succeed.

Women In Adult ·
Show More