Thursday, September 04, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Dialer history and PPM Billing - the future
Many webmasters old enough to remember the glory days of the classic ‘old school’ dialer tend do so with a certain degree of reminiscent nostalgia, not least since for many of those that deployed them in the early days of the web, it was one hell of a money machine.
Back then, when dial-up reigned supreme as the primary method of accessing the internet, surfers would be invited to circumvent AOL & Co by letting their modems connect directly to the internet via a premium rate telephone number, thus gaining instant access to the desired titillating content, which was not so freely available back then as it is now.
All was fine in theory : surfer’s usually got what they wanted and were more than happy to pay you using this buy now, pay later kind of billing.
However, in practice, this chapter in the dialer’s chequered history was relatively short-lived, partly due to increasing broadband penetration which rendered this kind of dialer obsolete, and partly due to a barrage of bad press after greedy and short-sighted crooks started to develop malicious variants that would then connect to a premium number every time its victims connected to the web – leading to horrendous phone bills for the scammed surfer, and disastrous PR for the dialer.
Perhaps partly due to this, surfers became increasingly wary before downloading any third party software onto their computers. Added to which, modern operating systems and free software would ensure that the message not to download such software got across to potential customers – a real turn-off for the turned-on surfer!
Thus the next chapter in the dialer’s turbulent history was born: the birth of the so-called ‘voice’ dialer. This too is powered by premium-rate phone numbers, but causes none of the headaches associated with its predecessor.
With a voice dialer, surfers see an on-screen call-to-action inviting them to call a premium-rate number. They are then granted immediate access to the member’s area for the time that the call connection is maintained. As soon as they hang up, they will no longer be able to access the content.
Smut searchers who like what they see and elect to pick up the phone are therefore paying you on a per-minute basis, which many industry observers believe will become more commonplace as we witness a shift away from the $29.90 monthly credit card subscription model to more of a pay-as-you-go one.
In an era of abundant free porn available via tubes and torrents, once surfers have found what floats their boat, they are essentially paying you for the convenience of not having to seek out the desired content elsewhere.
The amount of money you make with this form of micro-billing is totally content-driven – the more compelling and attractive the content, the longer the customer is likely to hang around, and therefore the more money you will make.
Bear in mind, your phone processor does not dictate the end-user costs, the various phone companies with whom they have interconnect agreements do. This is why the outpayments vary from country to country.
Given the ubiquity of the phone and cell phone worldwide, the voice dialer will not only enable you to make money on a global scale from surfers in developing countries that do not have a credit card, but also from those in developed ones who prefer the convienience and above all annonymity of paying you this way.
In conclusion, whilst the original dialer might have died, its successor is very much alive and kicking -and given the fact that more and more countries are introducing domestic premium rate pay-per-call billing, its future is looking very bright indeed.
Back then, when dial-up reigned supreme as the primary method of accessing the internet, surfers would be invited to circumvent AOL & Co by letting their modems connect directly to the internet via a premium rate telephone number, thus gaining instant access to the desired titillating content, which was not so freely available back then as it is now.
All was fine in theory : surfer’s usually got what they wanted and were more than happy to pay you using this buy now, pay later kind of billing.
However, in practice, this chapter in the dialer’s chequered history was relatively short-lived, partly due to increasing broadband penetration which rendered this kind of dialer obsolete, and partly due to a barrage of bad press after greedy and short-sighted crooks started to develop malicious variants that would then connect to a premium number every time its victims connected to the web – leading to horrendous phone bills for the scammed surfer, and disastrous PR for the dialer.
Perhaps partly due to this, surfers became increasingly wary before downloading any third party software onto their computers. Added to which, modern operating systems and free software would ensure that the message not to download such software got across to potential customers – a real turn-off for the turned-on surfer!
Thus the next chapter in the dialer’s turbulent history was born: the birth of the so-called ‘voice’ dialer. This too is powered by premium-rate phone numbers, but causes none of the headaches associated with its predecessor.
With a voice dialer, surfers see an on-screen call-to-action inviting them to call a premium-rate number. They are then granted immediate access to the member’s area for the time that the call connection is maintained. As soon as they hang up, they will no longer be able to access the content.
Smut searchers who like what they see and elect to pick up the phone are therefore paying you on a per-minute basis, which many industry observers believe will become more commonplace as we witness a shift away from the $29.90 monthly credit card subscription model to more of a pay-as-you-go one.
In an era of abundant free porn available via tubes and torrents, once surfers have found what floats their boat, they are essentially paying you for the convenience of not having to seek out the desired content elsewhere.
The amount of money you make with this form of micro-billing is totally content-driven – the more compelling and attractive the content, the longer the customer is likely to hang around, and therefore the more money you will make.
Bear in mind, your phone processor does not dictate the end-user costs, the various phone companies with whom they have interconnect agreements do. This is why the outpayments vary from country to country.
Given the ubiquity of the phone and cell phone worldwide, the voice dialer will not only enable you to make money on a global scale from surfers in developing countries that do not have a credit card, but also from those in developed ones who prefer the convienience and above all annonymity of paying you this way.
In conclusion, whilst the original dialer might have died, its successor is very much alive and kicking -and given the fact that more and more countries are introducing domestic premium rate pay-per-call billing, its future is looking very bright indeed.
Phone Billing : Pay Per Minute vs. ‘Buy now, enjoy later’
As we point out on our website, most of the world does not have a credit card. However, practically everyone has access to a phone or cell. With this is mind, it is important that you include phone billing as part of your processing portfolio.
There are two primary methods to employ phone billing, which this article aims to address : Pay-per-minute, whereby - as the name suggests - surfers pay you on a per minute basis, and ‘one shot’ billing, whereby the password ordering process generates the revenue : how much access time you then grant for said revenue is up to you.
Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages which we will now explore in greater detail.
Per-per-minute billing primarily only works in developed markets whereby the end-user has access to a broadband internet connection and has thus has access to a phone line and the internet simultaneously.
Surfers are invited to call a premium rate number which then grants them instant access to the desired member’s area for the time that the call connection is maintained : the moment they hang up, they lose connection to the desired web-content.
The hold-time and thus revenue generated with such billing is totally content driven : the more compelling the content, the longer the surfer is likely to hang around. Such a payment method makes for a perfect fit with VOD and livecam sites.
As anyone who has been inside a member area that floats their boat knows, time can really fly by - and this can result in connection times of half an hour or possibly much more.
As for the ‘buy now, enjoy later’ method on which PbP ‘classic’ is based, this works with ALL types of internet connection, including with dial-up which remains the primary method of connecting to the internet in the developing world. However, they first need to disconnect from the internet in order to free-up their phone line in order to make said call.
The ordering process to generate the password needed in order to gain access to the premium content is what generates the revenue – once ‘inside’, the billing clock is no longer ticking.
Thus surfers from developing countries simply note the password/number generated, and then reconnect to the internet and enter it accordingly. This method is also popular with surfers from developed countries, with some ordering their password from one computer, and then enjoying the content at a later stage from another.
This method of phone billing also makes for a great fit with dating sites : surfers need not worry about running up high phone bills since the hold time is fixed : however, once they have created their profile and enjoyed a day’s membership, they need to buy another password at a later stage in order to check their messages/winks etc. – in short, a fantastic recurring business model when used in association with compelling content.
When deciding which method of phone billing to deploy, operators of the classic pick and vid paysites should offer both. In an era of increasing market saturation and the abundance of free tube porn, the more options that you give surfers to pay you for the convenience of not having to search for their desired content elsewhere, the better.
There are two primary methods to employ phone billing, which this article aims to address : Pay-per-minute, whereby - as the name suggests - surfers pay you on a per minute basis, and ‘one shot’ billing, whereby the password ordering process generates the revenue : how much access time you then grant for said revenue is up to you.
Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages which we will now explore in greater detail.
Per-per-minute billing primarily only works in developed markets whereby the end-user has access to a broadband internet connection and has thus has access to a phone line and the internet simultaneously.
Surfers are invited to call a premium rate number which then grants them instant access to the desired member’s area for the time that the call connection is maintained : the moment they hang up, they lose connection to the desired web-content.
The hold-time and thus revenue generated with such billing is totally content driven : the more compelling the content, the longer the surfer is likely to hang around. Such a payment method makes for a perfect fit with VOD and livecam sites.
As anyone who has been inside a member area that floats their boat knows, time can really fly by - and this can result in connection times of half an hour or possibly much more.
As for the ‘buy now, enjoy later’ method on which PbP ‘classic’ is based, this works with ALL types of internet connection, including with dial-up which remains the primary method of connecting to the internet in the developing world. However, they first need to disconnect from the internet in order to free-up their phone line in order to make said call.
The ordering process to generate the password needed in order to gain access to the premium content is what generates the revenue – once ‘inside’, the billing clock is no longer ticking.
Thus surfers from developing countries simply note the password/number generated, and then reconnect to the internet and enter it accordingly. This method is also popular with surfers from developed countries, with some ordering their password from one computer, and then enjoying the content at a later stage from another.
This method of phone billing also makes for a great fit with dating sites : surfers need not worry about running up high phone bills since the hold time is fixed : however, once they have created their profile and enjoyed a day’s membership, they need to buy another password at a later stage in order to check their messages/winks etc. – in short, a fantastic recurring business model when used in association with compelling content.
When deciding which method of phone billing to deploy, operators of the classic pick and vid paysites should offer both. In an era of increasing market saturation and the abundance of free tube porn, the more options that you give surfers to pay you for the convenience of not having to search for their desired content elsewhere, the better.
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