Friday, February 25, 2005
Saturday, February 19, 2005
PR - Mooobile porn causes stir at 3GSM in Cannes
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Little Tony (thinking joke)
Foreword : I get sent alot of jokes from my friend Deborah in Barcelona. I feel that this one if worthy of sharing!
A teacher asks her class, "If there are 5 birds sitting on a fence and you shoot one of them, how many will be left?" She calls on little TONY. He replies, "None, they will all fly away with the first gunshot." The teacher replies, "The correct answer is 4, but I like your thinking."
Then little TONY says, "I have a question for YOU. There are 3 women sitting on a bench having ice cream: One is delicately licking the sides of the triple scoop of ice cream. The second is gobbling down the top and sucking the cone.The third is biting off the top of the ice cream. Which one is married?" The teacher, blushing a great deal, replied, "Well, I suppose the one that's gobbled down the top and sucked the cone." To which Little TONY replied, "The correct answer is 'the one with the wedding ring on," but I like your thinking."
A teacher asks her class, "If there are 5 birds sitting on a fence and you shoot one of them, how many will be left?" She calls on little TONY. He replies, "None, they will all fly away with the first gunshot." The teacher replies, "The correct answer is 4, but I like your thinking."
Then little TONY says, "I have a question for YOU. There are 3 women sitting on a bench having ice cream: One is delicately licking the sides of the triple scoop of ice cream. The second is gobbling down the top and sucking the cone.The third is biting off the top of the ice cream. Which one is married?" The teacher, blushing a great deal, replied, "Well, I suppose the one that's gobbled down the top and sucked the cone." To which Little TONY replied, "The correct answer is 'the one with the wedding ring on," but I like your thinking."
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Sex & Gambling - good bedfellows?
A stroll down the infamous Reeperbahn in Hamburg, Germany – fondly referred to as ‘the world’s most sinful mile’ – will confirm the fact: Sex and Gambling go hand in hand.
Red-light areas the world over bear witness to this. What better way to celebrate that win with a supercharged lust session with a beautiful girl? Or what better way to ‘wind down’ after satisfying one’s carnal desires with a few hours on the slots?
This cross-pollination can be capitalised upon in the online world also. But in many ways, it’s one sided. Casino’s cannot advertise sexual services on their websites since is would distract potential punters. In some US ‘brick and mortar’ casinos, they purposefully ensure that the pretty girls serve cocktails so that their not-so-pretty counterparts at the tables do not distract the players with lustful thoughts…
However, the reverse scenario works fine : Adult Webmasters can and should promote online gaming. The sales process takes longer, the conversions are challenging, but the ROI per customer can be significantly higher than with online erotica since the earnings are theoretically uncapped.
There is a three tier sales process involved with online gaming. First, you need to get the eyeballs onto the casino. And whilst some online casinos offer java gaming without the need to download the software, the vast majority require a not-insignificant download of the software onto the prospective customer’s computer.
Casino’s are very good and enticing people to do this by offering ‘welcome’ bonuses that are directly correlated to the customer’s initial deposit.
Once the software has been downloaded, most players start playing in the ‘for fun’ mode to whet their appetite for the games on offer. You can be sure that the software will constantly remind the fun players that they can play for real money if they so wish.
Once the final challenge has been accomplished, and the customer has actually begun staking real money, then this marks the beginning of a potentially long relationship. Online casinos are one of the most ‘sticky’ applications available on the web, with most players remaining loyal to the casino that they have taken the trouble to download onto their hard drive.
As a casino affiliate, you cannot lose. As with their real-world counterparts, the customers will always eventually lose since the odds are marginally against them. You will therefore be paid a percentage of the customers losses. Should the customer win, you owe the casino nothing – but don’t expect any commissions!. Since the casinos know that the customer always loses in the end, they can afford to absorb the costs involved in this happening. One thing is for sure, if the customer has the pleasure of experiencing ‘beginners luck’, he or she will be back for more!
Again, as with their real-world cousins, the online casinos customer relations departments do an excellent job of rewarding loyal players – usually in the form of money that is then credited to their account to entice them back into the digital casino.
One of my loyal players recently deposited US$300 – and, for that, he actually managed to gamble nearly $250,000 in turnover. Sure, he lost the $300 in the end, but he sure got a lot of entertainment for the money…
There has recently been much debate in Europe with regard to both on and offline gambling, particularly in my home country the UK where the government are in the process of liberalising the antiquated gaming laws. Thus far, that particular market has taken a tolerant view with regard to online gaming – one particular casino advertises practically everywhere :
On the subway, buses, billboard ads and in soccer stadiums – they even sponsor sporting events such as snooker whereby the URL is to be clearly seen worn as a badge by the players.
That precise activity is deemed illegal next door in Germany, where anyone involved in online gaming or promotion thereof could find themselves going to jail. This is because – as with many other countries – the gaming industry is government regulated. The reason for this is simple. By controlling the industry, it can profit far more from it. In other territories, gaming in all it’s forms is considered illegal. Period.
Unfortunately, and I say this with a degree of sarcasm, online gaming cannot be blocked to certain countries due to the global nature of the web. But caution is to be exercised. Do not actively promote your casino in the territories that do not allow such activity. In could land you in hot water.
Which brings me on to the issue of problem gambling. There is no way of me knowing as to whether my customers are problem gamblers. But having been one myself in the past, I know all too well the misery that can be caused by excessive gambling. The majority of gamblers can afford to gamble, and enjoy doing so. Gambling is fun. But gambling is also addictive. You should therefore work with a casino that promotes self help programmes notably gamblers anonymous so that problem gamblers can seek out help if it’s needed.
Finally, I would like to leave you with a four point check list that you should consider before embarking on your casino adventure:
How long have they been around? Generally speaking, the longer, the better.
Has the casino software been authenticated by reputable third parties such as Price Waterhouse Coopers? Casinos that pay short odds might make you money more quickly, but your chances of repeat business with be diminished.
Does the casino pay winners immediately, or are there clauses attached? The player should never have to wait for their winnings. The trust here is imperative.
Does the casino support multiple languages? It’s a big world out there! English is simply not enough. Don’t forget the asian countries. They love a good gamble…
Promote ‘your’ new casino prominently, both on the homepage and on your exit pages. Prospective customers will be more receptive to a gamble after they have ‘satisfied themselves’ on your site.
Keep the banners fresh, and remember to cross-refer to the casino to check any promotions that they may be running – your advertising should reflect these also.
‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity’ – by advertising online gaming you will be creating your own luck – and rest assured, the odds will be in your favour…
Red-light areas the world over bear witness to this. What better way to celebrate that win with a supercharged lust session with a beautiful girl? Or what better way to ‘wind down’ after satisfying one’s carnal desires with a few hours on the slots?
This cross-pollination can be capitalised upon in the online world also. But in many ways, it’s one sided. Casino’s cannot advertise sexual services on their websites since is would distract potential punters. In some US ‘brick and mortar’ casinos, they purposefully ensure that the pretty girls serve cocktails so that their not-so-pretty counterparts at the tables do not distract the players with lustful thoughts…
However, the reverse scenario works fine : Adult Webmasters can and should promote online gaming. The sales process takes longer, the conversions are challenging, but the ROI per customer can be significantly higher than with online erotica since the earnings are theoretically uncapped.
There is a three tier sales process involved with online gaming. First, you need to get the eyeballs onto the casino. And whilst some online casinos offer java gaming without the need to download the software, the vast majority require a not-insignificant download of the software onto the prospective customer’s computer.
Casino’s are very good and enticing people to do this by offering ‘welcome’ bonuses that are directly correlated to the customer’s initial deposit.
Once the software has been downloaded, most players start playing in the ‘for fun’ mode to whet their appetite for the games on offer. You can be sure that the software will constantly remind the fun players that they can play for real money if they so wish.
Once the final challenge has been accomplished, and the customer has actually begun staking real money, then this marks the beginning of a potentially long relationship. Online casinos are one of the most ‘sticky’ applications available on the web, with most players remaining loyal to the casino that they have taken the trouble to download onto their hard drive.
As a casino affiliate, you cannot lose. As with their real-world counterparts, the customers will always eventually lose since the odds are marginally against them. You will therefore be paid a percentage of the customers losses. Should the customer win, you owe the casino nothing – but don’t expect any commissions!. Since the casinos know that the customer always loses in the end, they can afford to absorb the costs involved in this happening. One thing is for sure, if the customer has the pleasure of experiencing ‘beginners luck’, he or she will be back for more!
Again, as with their real-world cousins, the online casinos customer relations departments do an excellent job of rewarding loyal players – usually in the form of money that is then credited to their account to entice them back into the digital casino.
One of my loyal players recently deposited US$300 – and, for that, he actually managed to gamble nearly $250,000 in turnover. Sure, he lost the $300 in the end, but he sure got a lot of entertainment for the money…
There has recently been much debate in Europe with regard to both on and offline gambling, particularly in my home country the UK where the government are in the process of liberalising the antiquated gaming laws. Thus far, that particular market has taken a tolerant view with regard to online gaming – one particular casino advertises practically everywhere :
On the subway, buses, billboard ads and in soccer stadiums – they even sponsor sporting events such as snooker whereby the URL is to be clearly seen worn as a badge by the players.
That precise activity is deemed illegal next door in Germany, where anyone involved in online gaming or promotion thereof could find themselves going to jail. This is because – as with many other countries – the gaming industry is government regulated. The reason for this is simple. By controlling the industry, it can profit far more from it. In other territories, gaming in all it’s forms is considered illegal. Period.
Unfortunately, and I say this with a degree of sarcasm, online gaming cannot be blocked to certain countries due to the global nature of the web. But caution is to be exercised. Do not actively promote your casino in the territories that do not allow such activity. In could land you in hot water.
Which brings me on to the issue of problem gambling. There is no way of me knowing as to whether my customers are problem gamblers. But having been one myself in the past, I know all too well the misery that can be caused by excessive gambling. The majority of gamblers can afford to gamble, and enjoy doing so. Gambling is fun. But gambling is also addictive. You should therefore work with a casino that promotes self help programmes notably gamblers anonymous so that problem gamblers can seek out help if it’s needed.
Finally, I would like to leave you with a four point check list that you should consider before embarking on your casino adventure:
How long have they been around? Generally speaking, the longer, the better.
Has the casino software been authenticated by reputable third parties such as Price Waterhouse Coopers? Casinos that pay short odds might make you money more quickly, but your chances of repeat business with be diminished.
Does the casino pay winners immediately, or are there clauses attached? The player should never have to wait for their winnings. The trust here is imperative.
Does the casino support multiple languages? It’s a big world out there! English is simply not enough. Don’t forget the asian countries. They love a good gamble…
Promote ‘your’ new casino prominently, both on the homepage and on your exit pages. Prospective customers will be more receptive to a gamble after they have ‘satisfied themselves’ on your site.
Keep the banners fresh, and remember to cross-refer to the casino to check any promotions that they may be running – your advertising should reflect these also.
‘Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity’ – by advertising online gaming you will be creating your own luck – and rest assured, the odds will be in your favour…
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Living on borrowed time?
Since the tragedy of the Asian Tsunami, I have been taking a keen interest in this phenomena and was shocked to learn that an island, La Palma, part of the Canary Islands where I live, could be the cause of a ‘mega Tsunami’, which will effectively wipe out the entire east coast of the USA. As if we haven’t got enough to worry about!
http://www.newsmedianews.com/tsunami.php
http://www.benfieldhrc.org/SiteRoot/in_the_news/press_cuttings/Insurance%20Day/why_the_only_certainty.htm
http://www.newsmedianews.com/tsunami.php
http://www.benfieldhrc.org/SiteRoot/in_the_news/press_cuttings/Insurance%20Day/why_the_only_certainty.htm
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Monday, February 07, 2005
BIO
As the articles suggest, I have been working in the audiotex/premium rate business for some ten years now. The concept of being able to charge people for services by means of the phone had always fascinated me.
I started by focussing on the German Domestic Market when it first opened back in 1994. I sourced the best available product that the market had to offer at that time (mainly chat & dating services) and negotiated revenue-share deals with German (print) media.
Since then, most media have gotten wise to the revenue generating possibilities of these services and typically now have their own in-house ‘new media’ departments.
In 2000, I facilitated the introduction of the hugely successful logo and ringtone cellphone ‘tuning’ market to the UK and was in the enviable position of being first-to-market. That market has since exploded and imploded – there are now literally hundreds of suppliers – and their affiliates – to choose from.
My main focus now is in helping Adult Webmasters capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the booming mobile sector.
I also co-own a small B2B consultancy www.eurobiz-trading.com which helps people do business in Europe’s key market, Germany.
I live in Tenerife – the island of eternal spring – with my wife Dorit, and son Jamie who is nearly 5.
I started by focussing on the German Domestic Market when it first opened back in 1994. I sourced the best available product that the market had to offer at that time (mainly chat & dating services) and negotiated revenue-share deals with German (print) media.
Since then, most media have gotten wise to the revenue generating possibilities of these services and typically now have their own in-house ‘new media’ departments.
In 2000, I facilitated the introduction of the hugely successful logo and ringtone cellphone ‘tuning’ market to the UK and was in the enviable position of being first-to-market. That market has since exploded and imploded – there are now literally hundreds of suppliers – and their affiliates – to choose from.
My main focus now is in helping Adult Webmasters capitalise on the opportunities afforded by the booming mobile sector.
I also co-own a small B2B consultancy www.eurobiz-trading.com which helps people do business in Europe’s key market, Germany.
I live in Tenerife – the island of eternal spring – with my wife Dorit, and son Jamie who is nearly 5.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
The future of mobile porn
Now that the festive season is well and truly behind us, some lucky souls amongst you will have spent most of January getting used to your new all singing, all dancing 3G mobile that Santa brought you for Christmas. Millions more or us will still stick to our 2.5G camphones phones for the time being.
The money that the mobile operators have spent in order to launch 3G beggars belief. Back in 2000, many clever governments decided to auction the necessary frequencies needed i.e. the airwaves that belong to us all. So, it seems, it is possible to make money out of thin air! A staggering £120 billion was spent on these required licences alone – before a single penny had been spent on the necessary infrastructure. Yes, thanks to 3G, there are now even more masts dotted around our green and pleasant land.
The strange thing is, no one was quite sure what we might actually do with these fabulous new handsets. Well, let met me tell you the real meaning of 3G – Girls, Games and Gambling, that’s what! And here’s the twist – network operators will not touch the content that will drive this market forward with a bargepole. Corporate bluechips and hardcore pornography are not good bedfellows…
I suspect that many of you will soon tire of the sports and comedy clips offered to you by your networks, and actively seek out good quality porn ‘to go’, if you have not done so already. The mobile ‘tuning’ market is already a £1bn dollar industry in it’s own right – and that’s just for ringtones! Industry observers believe that the mobile porn industry will eclipse ringtones by 2008.
So, how do you ‘sex up’ your mobile? And what’s on offer? Well, first this depends if you are 2.5 or 3G handset owner. Pictures, or ‘wallpapers,’ are available for all. As for watching clips, well, the difference can best be described as the difference between dial up and broandband, the former not exactly being the best user experience, if you get my drift.
The popular SMS chat and dating services will gradually be eclipsed by MMS Picture and video services. Companies operating in this space will no longer be able offer the ‘Sexy Susie is feeling soooo horny – text her now’ service utilising the swift keyboard skills of a balding middle-aged guy called Malcolm. Customers will demand, and get, the ‘real’ thing!
The new bluetooth enabled handsets have sown the seeds of a new and exciting social phenomena – toothing. It’s the newest craze in flirting and chat that has mobile phone users ‘toothing up’ due to it’s reputation of possible anonymous sexual encounters or new romances in the most unexpected places.Bluetooth ia a wireless technology that allows two mobile devices to communicate with each other over short distances without going via the mobile networks. Users can search for other phones in the vicinity, select a phone to ‘Tooth’ and send a flirty message to start the conversation, the usual greeting is: 'Toothing?'. If the other party is interested, messages are exchanged ranging from fun and flirty to down and dirty. What happens next is up to you!So if you are looking to spice up your next supermarket visit, make your train commute home more interesting, or fancy chatting up the cutie who is a few seats over in the bar... Toothing could be your answer!
Another interesting new development in the adult arena are the emergence of voyeur web portals that allow the growing army of cam-phone owners to post their naughty pictures on the web for the whole world for all and sundry to see – satiating the carnal desires of both voyeurs and exhibitionists in one swoop. Ah, the joys of the new unwired digital world in which we now live!
The money that the mobile operators have spent in order to launch 3G beggars belief. Back in 2000, many clever governments decided to auction the necessary frequencies needed i.e. the airwaves that belong to us all. So, it seems, it is possible to make money out of thin air! A staggering £120 billion was spent on these required licences alone – before a single penny had been spent on the necessary infrastructure. Yes, thanks to 3G, there are now even more masts dotted around our green and pleasant land.
The strange thing is, no one was quite sure what we might actually do with these fabulous new handsets. Well, let met me tell you the real meaning of 3G – Girls, Games and Gambling, that’s what! And here’s the twist – network operators will not touch the content that will drive this market forward with a bargepole. Corporate bluechips and hardcore pornography are not good bedfellows…
I suspect that many of you will soon tire of the sports and comedy clips offered to you by your networks, and actively seek out good quality porn ‘to go’, if you have not done so already. The mobile ‘tuning’ market is already a £1bn dollar industry in it’s own right – and that’s just for ringtones! Industry observers believe that the mobile porn industry will eclipse ringtones by 2008.
So, how do you ‘sex up’ your mobile? And what’s on offer? Well, first this depends if you are 2.5 or 3G handset owner. Pictures, or ‘wallpapers,’ are available for all. As for watching clips, well, the difference can best be described as the difference between dial up and broandband, the former not exactly being the best user experience, if you get my drift.
The popular SMS chat and dating services will gradually be eclipsed by MMS Picture and video services. Companies operating in this space will no longer be able offer the ‘Sexy Susie is feeling soooo horny – text her now’ service utilising the swift keyboard skills of a balding middle-aged guy called Malcolm. Customers will demand, and get, the ‘real’ thing!
The new bluetooth enabled handsets have sown the seeds of a new and exciting social phenomena – toothing. It’s the newest craze in flirting and chat that has mobile phone users ‘toothing up’ due to it’s reputation of possible anonymous sexual encounters or new romances in the most unexpected places.Bluetooth ia a wireless technology that allows two mobile devices to communicate with each other over short distances without going via the mobile networks. Users can search for other phones in the vicinity, select a phone to ‘Tooth’ and send a flirty message to start the conversation, the usual greeting is: 'Toothing?'. If the other party is interested, messages are exchanged ranging from fun and flirty to down and dirty. What happens next is up to you!So if you are looking to spice up your next supermarket visit, make your train commute home more interesting, or fancy chatting up the cutie who is a few seats over in the bar... Toothing could be your answer!
Another interesting new development in the adult arena are the emergence of voyeur web portals that allow the growing army of cam-phone owners to post their naughty pictures on the web for the whole world for all and sundry to see – satiating the carnal desires of both voyeurs and exhibitionists in one swoop. Ah, the joys of the new unwired digital world in which we now live!
Phonesex - Past, Present & Future
It’s been around for quite a while now and was the first form of adult e-commerce – good ole’ telephone sex. And whilst the customer now has a vast array of digital titillation to choose from, it is unlikely that phonesex will disappear any time soon. Indeed, it could be argued that the telephone offers a much more immediate and intimate form of communication – and therefore can and should be used to supplement the portfolio of services that you are currently offering. More on that later.
Firstly, I would like to take you back to the beginning. Commercial phonesex has it’s seeds planted (excuse the pun) back in the 1980’s – back then, phone carriers worldwide were beginning to introduce per-per call (1-900) or ‘premium rate’ billing, which would act as the backbone for the huge industry that was about to be born.
The principle behind Premium rate – also known as ‘Audiotex’ – is quite straightforward. The customer is offered a service with a premium attached to it. For this, the caller agreed to pay said premium. This gets collected by the phone company through the subscriber’s monthly phonebill. The phone company keep their share, and pass the balance onto the person or company actually offering the service (also referred to as the IP, or ‘information provider’).
Pre-internet, sure, some people did call for ‘value-added’ information such as Sports results and Weather Information – which is how the carriers used to pitch this business initially - but by far the biggest driver of premium-rate services was and still is telephone erotica.
Then, in the early nineties, the challenges emerged. Whilst premium rate was (and still is) a convenient billing mechanism for vendor and customer alike, countless crooks also woke up to the possibilities of this new cash-machine. And thus the first forms of e-fraud were born.
In Germany in 1994, for example, one particular crook who will remain nameless would rent apartments in Germany and order over a dozen phone lines from the then-state incumbent, Deutsche Telecom. He then place so-called ‘autodiallers’ on each line which, as the name suggests, would automatically dial the premium rate services that he was offering. This resulted in extortionate phone bills being generated which he did not pay – but he still collected the premiums that were generated. He has since paid the price for his crimes by being sent to prison… Who says crime pays?
Another reason that phonesex got off to a shaky start was due to the moral questions it posed. And the fact that children could access the services. To cap it all, the parents of those children would have to pay. As these issues were emerging, some telco’s panicked by call-barring their domestic numbers or forbidding phonesex altogether.
And thus, yet another industry was born – International Premium Rate Services, or IPRS. This way, IP’s could bill for their services by offering International numbers instead. They negotiated revenue-share agreements with Telco’s in far-flung exotic places such as Curaco or the Dominican Republic. These, in turn, received a proportion of the revenues that were generated by the caller for ‘terminating’ the call in their country. This money is known as the settlement rate, which is split with the IP who generated the call by advertising the service in the ‘originating’ country.
For a while, IPRS enjoyed a boom time whilst domestic markets were either non-existent or over-regulated. The Dominican Republic, whose main export up until that point had been rum and bananas, could not believe it’s luck – it was effectively handed a multi-million dollar business overnight on a plate. Huge call centres were set up from which operated a small army of phonesex girls that were flown there from all corners of the globe.
Gradually, the money to be made from phonesex became too big a carrot for the domestic operators to ignore and thus heralded a new dawn of liberalisation. Since the margins on offer to the IP’s relative to the cost of the call were higher, domestic premium rate flourished and IPRS suffered accordingly. However, International Premium Rate still remains a viable billing option for those counties that do not have a domestic premium rate infrastructure. Indeed, IPRS is beginning to experience an upswing thanks to the global nature of the internet. After all, if you want to offer one number to the whole world, then it makes sense to offer a number where you can profit from each call made, right?
Premium rate has now gone mainsteam and is a key revenue generator for many media. Indeed, the huge prize money on offer on shows such as TV’s ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’ is all thanks to premium rate since would-be millionaire contestants need to call a premium rate number in order to register their intentions. And the new phenomenon of reality TV ‘voting’ is nothing more than a money machine for the TV networks.
But I digress. Back to the issue at hand. Telephone Erotica always has been and no doubt always will be the most popular application that uses premium rate telephone numbers. As the years have passed, the technology has advanced and many phone-sex companies now utilise acd (automatic call distribution) technology thus allowing the phonesex operators to work from home. They simply tell the system when they are ready to ‘work’, and calls to the premium rate number are then routed to the operator at home and her anonymity is maintained.
In recent years, there has of course been an explosion of new online services allowing the customers to actually see the illusive pussy that hitherto was only spoken about. But nothing can replace the ‘intimacy’ of the telephone. After all, there are still plenty of aural sex fans out there!
To this end, expect to see a growth of phonesex on websites as more and more webmasters wake up to the tried and tested money making capability of phonesex by incorporating into their offerings. Some forward-thinking camsex operators have already done this by allowing customers to call the girls, as well as communicating my means of webcam and keyboard. Two revenue streams from one customer! This is capitalism at its finest!
It is widely assumed that phonesex is always live but this is not the case. A significant proportion of phonesex customers actually do NOT want to speak to someone ‘in the flesh’, so to speak. Rather, they prefer to listen to pre-recorded erotic stories for their kicks. For the phonesex operators this is a pure cash-cow, since after the recordings have been made, there are no salaries to be paid to the girls (or boys, but mainly girls!).
More recently, the phone companies have been making millions by extending the premium rate principal to SMS – or text messages – from cellphones. This is all the more extraordinary given the fact that the first text message was sent ten years ago. It was added as a channel to the then growing GSM network as an added form of communication. In the meantime, a staggering 2.3 billion of the were sent in October of this year in the UK alone! No prizes for guessing what the main revenue generator in the premium sms sector is. You guessed it, SMS sex chat!
Since SMS is far more anonymous than ‘real’ phonesex, customers who think they have been communicating with Sexy Susie have in fact been communicating with Fat Freddie – who might be communicating with multiple customers courtesy of his PC and keyboard. Some operators in this space have even taken the trouble to ‘pre-write’ hundreds of vague messages such as ‘I’m feeling soooo horny at the moment’, or similar. Thus the hapless customer is actually communicating with a decidedly un-sexy computer!
This phenomena is set to be overtaken by the next generation of peer-to-peer cellular technology MMS (Mobile Messaging Services), which supports pictures. The correct handset permitting, the customer can now tell Susie to remove her panties and witness it happening in near real-time on his cellphone. Looks like Fat Freddie’s days might be numbered…
Whilst these emerging technologies are fun and will no doubt make money, phonesex in its classical form will always remain a favourite with its loyal army of consumers.
In summary, if you are a adult webmaster you should consider offering phonesex as part of your portfolio of products. It will not cannibalise your existing business. Quite the opposite. It will enhance it. And make you money in the process.
Firstly, I would like to take you back to the beginning. Commercial phonesex has it’s seeds planted (excuse the pun) back in the 1980’s – back then, phone carriers worldwide were beginning to introduce per-per call (1-900) or ‘premium rate’ billing, which would act as the backbone for the huge industry that was about to be born.
The principle behind Premium rate – also known as ‘Audiotex’ – is quite straightforward. The customer is offered a service with a premium attached to it. For this, the caller agreed to pay said premium. This gets collected by the phone company through the subscriber’s monthly phonebill. The phone company keep their share, and pass the balance onto the person or company actually offering the service (also referred to as the IP, or ‘information provider’).
Pre-internet, sure, some people did call for ‘value-added’ information such as Sports results and Weather Information – which is how the carriers used to pitch this business initially - but by far the biggest driver of premium-rate services was and still is telephone erotica.
Then, in the early nineties, the challenges emerged. Whilst premium rate was (and still is) a convenient billing mechanism for vendor and customer alike, countless crooks also woke up to the possibilities of this new cash-machine. And thus the first forms of e-fraud were born.
In Germany in 1994, for example, one particular crook who will remain nameless would rent apartments in Germany and order over a dozen phone lines from the then-state incumbent, Deutsche Telecom. He then place so-called ‘autodiallers’ on each line which, as the name suggests, would automatically dial the premium rate services that he was offering. This resulted in extortionate phone bills being generated which he did not pay – but he still collected the premiums that were generated. He has since paid the price for his crimes by being sent to prison… Who says crime pays?
Another reason that phonesex got off to a shaky start was due to the moral questions it posed. And the fact that children could access the services. To cap it all, the parents of those children would have to pay. As these issues were emerging, some telco’s panicked by call-barring their domestic numbers or forbidding phonesex altogether.
And thus, yet another industry was born – International Premium Rate Services, or IPRS. This way, IP’s could bill for their services by offering International numbers instead. They negotiated revenue-share agreements with Telco’s in far-flung exotic places such as Curaco or the Dominican Republic. These, in turn, received a proportion of the revenues that were generated by the caller for ‘terminating’ the call in their country. This money is known as the settlement rate, which is split with the IP who generated the call by advertising the service in the ‘originating’ country.
For a while, IPRS enjoyed a boom time whilst domestic markets were either non-existent or over-regulated. The Dominican Republic, whose main export up until that point had been rum and bananas, could not believe it’s luck – it was effectively handed a multi-million dollar business overnight on a plate. Huge call centres were set up from which operated a small army of phonesex girls that were flown there from all corners of the globe.
Gradually, the money to be made from phonesex became too big a carrot for the domestic operators to ignore and thus heralded a new dawn of liberalisation. Since the margins on offer to the IP’s relative to the cost of the call were higher, domestic premium rate flourished and IPRS suffered accordingly. However, International Premium Rate still remains a viable billing option for those counties that do not have a domestic premium rate infrastructure. Indeed, IPRS is beginning to experience an upswing thanks to the global nature of the internet. After all, if you want to offer one number to the whole world, then it makes sense to offer a number where you can profit from each call made, right?
Premium rate has now gone mainsteam and is a key revenue generator for many media. Indeed, the huge prize money on offer on shows such as TV’s ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire?’ is all thanks to premium rate since would-be millionaire contestants need to call a premium rate number in order to register their intentions. And the new phenomenon of reality TV ‘voting’ is nothing more than a money machine for the TV networks.
But I digress. Back to the issue at hand. Telephone Erotica always has been and no doubt always will be the most popular application that uses premium rate telephone numbers. As the years have passed, the technology has advanced and many phone-sex companies now utilise acd (automatic call distribution) technology thus allowing the phonesex operators to work from home. They simply tell the system when they are ready to ‘work’, and calls to the premium rate number are then routed to the operator at home and her anonymity is maintained.
In recent years, there has of course been an explosion of new online services allowing the customers to actually see the illusive pussy that hitherto was only spoken about. But nothing can replace the ‘intimacy’ of the telephone. After all, there are still plenty of aural sex fans out there!
To this end, expect to see a growth of phonesex on websites as more and more webmasters wake up to the tried and tested money making capability of phonesex by incorporating into their offerings. Some forward-thinking camsex operators have already done this by allowing customers to call the girls, as well as communicating my means of webcam and keyboard. Two revenue streams from one customer! This is capitalism at its finest!
It is widely assumed that phonesex is always live but this is not the case. A significant proportion of phonesex customers actually do NOT want to speak to someone ‘in the flesh’, so to speak. Rather, they prefer to listen to pre-recorded erotic stories for their kicks. For the phonesex operators this is a pure cash-cow, since after the recordings have been made, there are no salaries to be paid to the girls (or boys, but mainly girls!).
More recently, the phone companies have been making millions by extending the premium rate principal to SMS – or text messages – from cellphones. This is all the more extraordinary given the fact that the first text message was sent ten years ago. It was added as a channel to the then growing GSM network as an added form of communication. In the meantime, a staggering 2.3 billion of the were sent in October of this year in the UK alone! No prizes for guessing what the main revenue generator in the premium sms sector is. You guessed it, SMS sex chat!
Since SMS is far more anonymous than ‘real’ phonesex, customers who think they have been communicating with Sexy Susie have in fact been communicating with Fat Freddie – who might be communicating with multiple customers courtesy of his PC and keyboard. Some operators in this space have even taken the trouble to ‘pre-write’ hundreds of vague messages such as ‘I’m feeling soooo horny at the moment’, or similar. Thus the hapless customer is actually communicating with a decidedly un-sexy computer!
This phenomena is set to be overtaken by the next generation of peer-to-peer cellular technology MMS (Mobile Messaging Services), which supports pictures. The correct handset permitting, the customer can now tell Susie to remove her panties and witness it happening in near real-time on his cellphone. Looks like Fat Freddie’s days might be numbered…
Whilst these emerging technologies are fun and will no doubt make money, phonesex in its classical form will always remain a favourite with its loyal army of consumers.
In summary, if you are a adult webmaster you should consider offering phonesex as part of your portfolio of products. It will not cannibalise your existing business. Quite the opposite. It will enhance it. And make you money in the process.
Friday, February 04, 2005
How Adult Webmasters can go mobile – now! (YNOT)
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