2013 went down in history as a year in which the mobile sector grew increasingly important for the adult entertainment industry, and that importance is likely to grow in 2014. That is not to say that the consumption of erotica on desktops will cease altogether in the new year: some consumers of adult content might prefer their desktops, and some might use both desktops and mobile devices. But however one looks at it, mobile’s ever-increasing importance to the adult industry cannot be denied.
“Mobile has eclipsed desktop,” observed Juicy Jay, founder and CEO of JuicyAds.com. “People are going to choose their preference, and in many cases, switch between the two. The industry must simply cater to both sides, ensure that paysites and members areas auto-detect these devices and respond accordingly rather than promoting mobile websites as a separate product. Mobile functionality and product needs to be seamless and should be a feature of an adult website, not a secondrate destination that people need to remember and type into their phone.”
We expect that the adult companies who want to be relevant in mobile going forward will make significant efforts to offer adult consumers quality products at an affordable price with very easy billing. -Nigel Williams, AdXpansion
Nigel Williams, vice president of AdXpansion, said that in 2014, mobile billing solutions will be an ongoing topic for providers of adult content.
“We expect that the adult companies who want to be relevant in mobile going forward will make significant efforts to offer adult consumers quality products at an affordable price with very easy billing,” Williams asserted. “Currently, carrier-billing offers the best easy billing solutions, but other companies are in a position to compete with carriers. Most notably, Apple, Google and PayPal seem to be in a position to offer e-wallet solutions that have a critical mass. All three of these companies are known to not be friendly with adult, but it remains to be seen who will offer a mobile billing solution and what their rules will be when it comes to billing for adult.”
In many countries, operators/carriers offer billing for adult content. But in the U.S., carriers are still wary of adult content — and that is likely to continue in 2014.
“From what we see, the U.S. is clearly different than everyone else,” Williams observed. “There aren’t any promising carrier-billing providers in the U.S. right now. Some carriers have offered billing to adult but then, they withdraw quickly. The credit card is still the predominant payment method in the U.S. for mobile, while Europe, Australia, Asia and Latin America offer carrier-billing solutions for adult products. If an adult-friendly e-wallet solution becomes available in the U.S., I’m sure we’ll see tremendous growth there that will be on par with other regions that have adult carrier-billing solutions.”
Europe has been a leader when it comes to consuming mobile adult content, but Juicy Jay believes that the U.S. could make serious advances in that area with the right mobile billing solutions.
‘Expect to see hot spots rise and fall in the coming year,” Jay predicted. “There are countries yet to be tapped. The U.S. is one of the most under valued markets when it comes to mobile traffic, mostly due to billing and processing. I’m sure that everyone would love to see this change, and I can’t imagine that it won’t given the innovation in the market. I would look to South America and Latin American countries for one of the next booms ahead.”
According to Jay, fighting mobile fraud will be of vital importance to adult companies in the new year.
“One of the most critical issues related to mobile in 2014 is combating the high rates of fraud that are occurring,” Jay stressed. “This affects anyone buying or selling mobile traffic. Mobile has gone through a porn gold rush phase, and it’s still highly profitable. Any time there is a lot of money to be made, there’s always people looking to take advantage — and a recent study showed that over 38 percent of mobile impressions are fraudulent compared with 35 percent for desktop. Malware for mobile devices is on the rise as well. Anyone can speak to the strengths and positives related to capitalizing on mobile. However, it’s extremely important not to forget our risk factors for this segment. Combating these negatives will be a high priority in the coming years.”