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opinion

The Future of Photo Content

Recently, XBIZ World magazine asked several online adult entertainment industry experts, "Will photo content retain its value as web video increases in popularity?" Here's what they had to say:

"I believe that pictures will still retain their value because they provide more of a voyeuristic quality for surfers than movies do. Surfers can love porn but they also want to get a little extra and get to know the porn stars. Movies can get surfers' attention, but photos offer a glimpse of the personality and lives of the porn star, which is especially important for solo girl sites."

— Cindy, Sales Director, Braincash

"In my opinion, as high-speed Internet access becomes more readily available, photo content has and will continue to suffer a decline in value. Is there still a need for photo content? Absolutely. Most of us continue to make photo galleries available to give a better experience to the low broadband/dial-up user who may not be willing to pay for DSL but is still willing to pay for porn. Photos are a great and quick way for the surfer to preview a movie or scene they are contemplating watching. Mobile technology is still not able to deliver video in the quality we've become accustomed to, so the industry also is taking advantage of photo content. As most of us upgrade from DVD to pay-per-video/video-on-demand and HD-DVD/Blu-ray, some countries and even homes right here in the U.S. are still enjoying VHS and are just considering stepping up to their first DVD player. While these 'slower' folks may not be our target audience, someone has to cater to them with photo content and audio text."

— Leslie Sharp, President, DoubleClickMarketing.com

"There will always be a place for photo content on the Internet, but that place is getting smaller each and every day. As more websites, such as video download sites, VOD, etc., appear on the Internet, more people will become accustomed to and want video as their main source for viewing adult content. This trend already can be seen happening in the market today, and website owners already have started to make changes to move into the video market. Websites that were once exclusively image-based sites are now adding video content to both attract and retain members. This also can be seen with the coming of age of the home PC, as major manufacturers and Internet service providers are already starting to position the home computer as an entertainment gateway for people to stream and surf what they want."

— Paul Armstrong, "Platinum Paul," Project Manager, AdultRentalCash

"As web video continues to gain in popularity throughout the world and broadband becomes more readily available, I believe that high-quality photo content will continue to retain its value. I also think that certain niche content that is more difficult to find will always be in demand. There is something about viewing nude photos with the perfect lighting, background setting, poses and overall quality aesthetics that will always command a faithful audience. The majority of adult entertainment customers will continue to search for as much variety as they can, and that means fresh new photo content will always be in demand."

— Jim Melotte, Marketing Manager, Almighty Content

"One of the great things about our industry is that everyone has different likes and dislikes. For those of us who love the art of photos, there is something about them that video will never capture. For these reasons, I'm sure that great quality photo content will always have its place and retain its value regardless of the popularity of video."

— Adam McKinnon, Sales and Marketing Manager, WildCash.com

"There always will be a place for photo content, but it is hard to imagine that it will retain its value, especially as pricing competition in video becomes a reality. In the very near future, all users will have high-speed connections making video streaming and downloads painless. Once the delay between finding what you want to watch and watching it has been eliminated, video will be the clear choice. If I were starting a content site today it would be all video with images used only for marketing purposes."

— LP, Founding Partner, ViceReview.com

"While I think the marketability of 100,000-plus generic photos may dwindle, I believe quality niche-oriented photo content will retain its value. Still photos have always had a unique appeal. At VideoSecrets, we focus on providing our chat users with custom photos of their favorite live performers, and we have not seen a decrease in the demand for this content. Diversification is king. Sites that primarily contain photo content can keep their members happy by adding our free live cams or our free video feeds simply by signing up as an affiliate.

— Brad Estes, Business Development Guy, VideoSecrets

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Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

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