Launched in June 2006, Pornotube.com rapidly expanded in popularity and has drawn mainstream press attention from the likes of USA Today, VH1 and Fox News. The result has been an explosion in file-sharing and page views, Pornotube marketing director Suzann Knudsen told XBIZ.
According to Knudsen, Pornotube now offers more than 250,000 files, of which approximately 35,000 are photos and videos, and receives between 9 million and 15 million page views every day.
Knudsen said that while many of the files are professionally produced content added to the site for promotional purposes, there are plenty of real amateurs in the mix too.
“The ratio of amateur content to studio content is actually pretty strong,” Knudsen said.
Asked about the frequently voiced argument that sites such as Pornotube.com serve to reduce sales industrywide, Knudsen said she doesn’t buy the assertion.
“People have been making the same argument about TGPs and free sites for years,” Knudsen said. “It’s just not the case. We’ve seen tons of sales on our VOD network coming from Pornotube traffic and lots of people in the industry have been using it as a traffic-driving tool and getting great results.”
The mainstream media attention being paid to Pornotube recently culminated in Knudsen appearing on “The Mike and Juliet Show,” a nationally syndicated morning show produced by Fox News.
“I have to say it was one of the best experiences I’ve had in dealing with a TV organization,” Knudsen told XBIZ. “It was a morning show, so they do want some controversy — it wouldn’t be very interesting if everybody agreed — but they were very nice. I would definitely do it again.”
Knudsen said that the antiporn guests on the show, which included a psychologist who insisted that one of the other female adult industry guests on the show “must have had something happen to her in childhood” that led her to get involved in the adult business, all appeared to be operating from the same flawed assumption.
“These people are convinced that behind every woman in porn there is a man who is making all the money,” Knudsen said. “One of the great things about a site like Pornotube is that it reminds us that there are so many shapes, so many colors, sizes and tastes involved in this [industry].”
