There’s no question that wireless users are searching for porn on their mobile phones. But in the United States, at least, it seems nobody is cashing in.
A recent study by mobile-search provider JumpTap Inc. found that searches for adult content accounted for more than one-fifth of all wireless searches powered by the company in December, topping all other kinds of content. A similar study of Google’s mobile-search offering echoed JumpTap’s findings, revealing that wireless users were twice as likely to search for porn on their phones as any other type of content.
Popular search terms included “porn,” “sex,” “free porn” and “playboy,” according to the study, which was conducted by two computer science professors who are associated with Google. Adult content searches were substantially less popular on PDAs, where users sought local listings more than any other category.
Amazingly, wireless proved a more popular platform for porn searches than even PCs, where less than 10 percent of all searches involved adult content, according to the study.
“We speculate that people may feel more comfortable querying adult terms on private devices,” the researchers wrote. “Anecdotally, we have observed that users often consider their cell phone as a very personal and private device; perhaps even more so than their computer-the probability of others discovering their search behavior (through cached pages, auto-completion of query terms or URLs) is smaller.”
While U.S. wireless subscribers may be looking for racy content-and perhaps even accessing the stuff-very few of them are paying for it. Until operators are willing to bill users on behalf of content providers, the market for wireless porn will remain flat, according to Linda Barrabee, a senior analyst with the Yankee Group.
“It’s not necessarily being monetized because the carriers don’t have the rules of engagement in place to bill for this,” Barrabee said. “I doubt there’s a lot of monetization, at least in the U.S. market. If it is happening, it’s a less-than-perfect experience, because you have to go off-deck.”
Operators have been working with CTIA and other industry organizations for more than a year to establish standards and ratings systems, Barrabee said. Wireless publishers of adult porn are mostly standing on the sidelines as those issues are slowly being addressed.
A handful of companies have launched off-portal sites, allowing users to set up accounts with a credit card in order to access seamy images. Xobile.com offers two-minute clips from 5,000 adult films at various “credits” to members with accounts.
But most consumers are likely to find such hurdles prohibitive, particularly given the headaches involved in entering personal and financial information.
“Obviously, putting a credit-card number into a phone is quite cumbersome,” said L.R. Clinton Fayling, president of Brickhouse Mobile, a Denver-based publisher of adult content. “You’re not really creating an impulsive purchase there.”
Several others, like Canada’s phoneerotica.com, offer free content in an effort to gain traction and eventually monetize their wares through operators. Indeed, a Yankee Group study from last year cited phoneerotica.com as the top off-portal destination for T-Mobile USA Inc. subscribers.
And as the lines continue to blur between the wireless and PC Web sites, subscribers can access a wide range of pornographic Internet sites on their handsets. Mobile Web browsers automatically format countless Web sites, and Google and other developers have created transcoding technology that customizes Internet content for the small screens of mobile phones.
Brickhouse has gained traction in other markets both on- and off-portal with content that ranges from PG to hardcore. In the United States, though, the raciest stuff the publisher offers is bikini-clad adult stars. And while the content may sound innocuous, no U.S. Tier 1 operator offers Brickhouse’s wares on its deck.
“Obviously, we do a lot of work overseas, where standards are much different,” Fayling said. “Until (U.S. operators) are ready-and some may never be-we will work within the rules.”
A couple of MVNOs have floated the idea of allowing users to access porn, and it’s possible that an edgy outfit like Amp’d Mobile could embrace adult content as a marketing strategy. Tier 1 carriers are likely to keep adult content at arm’s length, though, regardless of what kinds of standards are implemented.
While adult-content providers are sure to strike revenue-share deals with operators, porn isn’t likely to gain great deck placement with any major operator. Adult content that does reach carrier decks will probably be hidden under several layers to minimize the chance of unsuspecting users stumbling across potentially offensive images.
“I think they have a lot to lose, quite frankly,” said the Yankee Group’s Barrabee. “They want to make sure they don’t make the evening news by allowing a 12-year-old boy” to access adult content.
