Mobile carriers have become one of the most lucrative portals for adult sites to use when monetizing content. At a recent panel discussion I was on, the participants agreed that while mobile traffic is a small percentage of the overall clicks a site receives, the conversion rates on purchases made without a credit card via mobile devices are astoundingly better than traditional processing of the exact same sites. So much so that in many cases a smaller pool of mobile traffic now equates to more actual revenue than the desktop traffic a site receives. One of the few barriers still standing in the way are the carriers themselves, but even that is finally starting to change in our favor.
Mobile carriers in the U.S. are different in terms of how they regulate adult mobile services and content. As of a few years ago the U.S. mobile carriers universally decided to ban adult services from their platforms. This means that they will not allow businesses to use their billing services to monetize their adult products or offers. This explains why companies like ours don’t have much business in the U.S. anymore and we focus more on the regions outside of the U.S. which regulated in a far more favorable way.
A big reason mobile has become so significant is the fact that many potential customers prefer not to use credit cards.
While there has been no real signs that the U.S. carriers are planning change their ways anytime soon, and some of the other large countries are starting to become more strict by regulating things a bit tougher these days — I don’t think it will ever be as difficult as the U.S. has become, and the rapid growth of emerging markets represents an opportunity on such a large scale that our focus is likely to stay with them in the immediate future, even if other regions start stepping forward again.
Setting up your own mobile solution can take up to a year if you are dealing with all the different mobile carriers in each country on your own. Making matters even more complex, the regulations of all these independent jurisdictions change often and may change during your setup process, which can send you back to square one after wasting significant resources pursuing a false lead. That’s why Affil4You has spent the past 10 years doing this exclusively, focused specially on compliance and performance for our clients and the carriers.
It took us some time to build traction and the continual monitoring and maintaining of each mobile carrier’s regulations to make sure that we are always compliant in every country with ever carrier remains a substantial amount of work each day. Which is why so many top brands trust Affil4You to take care of their mobile development.
A big reason mobile has become so significant is the fact that many potential customers prefer not to use credit cards. There are some well-established mobile billing practices that make impulse purchases as simple as a click or two on any mobile device already. There are also a lot of new payment types out there that may seem interesting, but many of these come and go quickly, and in terms of the adult mobile space I haven’t seen any of these alternative solutions really prove themselves yet. bitcoin or other types of e-wallet solutions for example may become larger factors, but they have not yet truly proven themselves in the adult mobile space yet.
That’s really the main point to keep in mind. The mobile space is growing at such a rapid rate that it is to be expected that mobile regulators all over the world are going to tighten the restraints a bit, and there will continue to be proliferation of new potential revenue streams using a variety of billing methods. Being properly positioned to maximize revenue, and avoid the frustration of wasting resources requires that you either keep your finger on the pulse of many mobile venues each day, or find a trustworthy entity you can rely on to manage that all for you. At Affil4You we are constantly evolving our client tools, processing methodology and tracking capabilities.
Coming up with new and creative ways to ensure that we are maximizing all potential mobile revenue is all we do each day, every day. I look forward to the continuing development of the mobile space and enjoy the fast pace of the changes that affect it often, but that’s probably because Affil4You has already navigated the obstacles to entry and become adept at keeping pace with the compliance issues that matter most.
