Porn 2.0, Web 2.0 and filthy lucre.

Interesting article on TechCrunch arguing that Web 2.0 technology drove the Porn 2.0 industry rather than vice versa.

I am a bit dubious about this claim of Web 2.0 leading Porn 2.0. From a strictly research point of view of course, we have looked at pornsite tech over the years (we however do not own a pornograph to play it on) and...errrm..."user generated content" was around pretty early, ditto social networks based around "dating". They may not have used AJAX or widgets but the functionality was there in concept.

The reason is that the industry is so big and so competitive that it has to innovate early - to quote from TechCrunch, referring to a video on the industry.

It is staggering how much actual money flows through porn and how many people are involved in the industry:

- 89% of porn is created in the U.S.
- $2.84 billion in revenue was generated from U.S. porn sites in 2006
- $89/second is spent on porn
- 72% of porn viewers are men
- 260 new porn sites go online daily

The only thing that amazes me about this is the US owns 89% of the market, its not as if they have Bunker-Hunted the raw materials!

One wonders when the BRIC nations will take over this market as well...or at least be part of an outsourcing drive?