trends

Where's the Traffic?

It's notoriously difficult to get precise statistics about adult websites, mostly because the vast majority of the adult industry is privately held and no one's volunteering much information. When they do, it's often with a "wink, wink; nudge nudge" effect that's universally understood within the industry.

Even though it's notoriously biased and imprecise, Alexa can give a fuzzy comparative picture of what's happening. In the mainstream world, Google is an undisputed traffic leader with a steady Alexa rank of 2 and a global reach of 26.5 percent of the Internet's traffic. Most of the traffic (25.9 percent) comes from the U.S., with Chile, Brazil and India being the next largest contributors at slightly less than 4 percent each. Eighty-four percent of sites on the web are slower than Google, but it's a search engine. Its job is to be fast and accurate.

Compare those figures to venerable thumbnail gallery link list The Hun's Yellow Pages. In the days before tube sites, The Hun was a dynamo, attracting, trading and selling traffic at a dizzying pace. Webmasters were willing to sell their souls for just a brief appearance on The Hun's pages. In January, The Hun's Alexa ranking was 3,490, down 943 over the previous three months. It reached only .0525 percent of the traffic on the web, down 14 percent from three months earlier, and the average viewer only visited 1.5 pages on the site. The biggest contributor to its traffic (31.5 percent) was the U.S., followed by the U.K. at 11.4 percent. Alexa called The Hun a "fast" site because it loaded more quickly than 65 percent of the rest of the web … but it's a link list. What's to load?

The sites getting the lion's share of porn traffic these days are the tubes, despite their comparably poor load times. YouPorn was ranked 37 by Alexa in January, climbing 15 since October. It reached 1.52 percent of the world's web traffic, up an astounding 61 percent over October's level. The average user (primarily from the U.S., Germany and France) viewed 12.1 pages on the site even though 63 percent of sites on the web loaded more quickly. Evidently, although they might abandon a slow search engine or link list, a lot of people don't mind waiting for video.

Xtube ranked 184 on Alexa in January, up 71 over three months earlier. It reached 28 percent of the global web population (up 56 percent over October), overwhelmingly from the U.S. The average user viewed 19.5 pages per visit even though 71 percent of the sites on the web were faster.

PornoTube, with an Alexa ranking of 226 (down 27 from October), reached .325 percent of the web's surfers, most of whom came from the U.S., Brazil and Chile. Once there, they viewed an average of 9.8 pages per visit, despite PornoTube's deplorably slow performance: 88 percent of sites on the web loaded more quickly.

What's most remarkable about the tubes is what they do with their traffic. According to Alexa, 99 percent of YouPorn's traffic stays on YouPorn, with only 1 percent abandoning the site for somewhere else. PornoTube typically sends 2 percent of its traffic to VOD.PornoTube.com, a skinned version of parent company AEBN's video-on-demand theaters. According to Alexa, no traffic abandons PornoTube for parts unknown. As for Xtube, only 50 percent of the site's traffic stays within the root domain; 1 percent leaves the site. The other 49 percent is shuttled to a variety of Xtube sub-domains that represent moneymaking potential for the site: VOD, pay-per-view amateur content, live video-chat rooms and other innovations Xtube has devised to feed its bottom line.

With traffic and holding power like that, it looks suspiciously like tubes might be here to stay.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 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

The SCREEN Test: How to Prepare for Federal Age Verification

For those who are counting, there are now 20 enacted state laws in the United States requiring age verification for viewing online adult content, plus numerous proposed laws in the works. This ongoing barrage has been exhausting for many in the adult industry — and it may be about to escalate in the form of a potential new AV law, this time at the federal level.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
opinion

How to Master Team Dynamics for Business Success

Having the right team in place is everything. Whether getting a startup off the ground and thriving, or safeguarding an established company, the right — or wrong — people can mean the difference between a successful venture and a failed dream.

Juicy Jay ·
opinion

Eight Steps to Fast-Track AI Site Approval for Processing

Artificial intelligence is a hot topic these days. AI technology is speeding up the way we do business across all industries and offers numerous benefits, from automating processes to increasing efficiency and scalability.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

How to Secure High-Risk Transactions With Network Tokenization

Ensuring the security of data as it moves through digital channels is the foundation of safe transactions, and crucial for your success. If your business can’t secure transactions, you’re exposed to myriad processing traumas.

Jonathan Corona ·
profile

WIA Profile: Reba Rocket

As chief operating officer and chief marketing officer of Takedown Piracy, long at the forefront of intellectual property protection in adult entertainment, Rocket is dedicated to safeguarding the livelihoods of content creators and producers while fostering a more ethical and sustainable industry.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Protecting Content Ownership Rights When Using AI

In today’s digital age, content producers have more tools at their disposal than ever before. Among these tools, artificial intelligence (AI) content generation has emerged as a game changer, enabling creators to produce high-quality content quickly and efficiently.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
opinion

How Payment Orchestration Can Help Your Business

An emerging payment solution is making waves in the merchant world: the payment orchestration platform (POP). It’s quickly gaining traction as a powerful tool for managing online payments — but questions abound.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

Fine-Tuning Refund and Cancellation Policies

For adult websites, managing refunds and cancellations isn’t just about customer service. It’s a crucial factor in maintaining compliance with the regulations of payment processors and payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

Jonathan Corona ·
profile

WIA Profile: Laurel Bencomo

Born in Cambridge, England but raised in Spain, Laurel Bencomo initially chose to study business at the University of Barcelona simply because it felt familiar — both of her parents are entrepreneurs. She went on to earn a master’s degree in sales and marketing management at the EADA Business School, while working in events for a group of restaurants in Barcelona.

Women In Adult ·
profile

Gregory Dorcel on Building Upon His Brand's Signature Legacy

“Whether reflected in the storyline or the cast or even the locations, the entertainment we deliver is based on fantasy,” he elaborates. “Our business is not, and never has been, reality. People who are buying our content aren’t expecting reality, or direct contact with stars like you can have with OnlyFans,” he says.

Jeff Dana ·
Show More