Missing the Cashed Up Market?

Posted On: 2008-05-22

There are lots of things that can influence us to think that, more young people are online ... or so we think; older people lose interest in sex and don't need their daily porn fix ... or so we think; the producers of porn all seem to use younger guys so that's the way it must be in real life ... or so we think ... and the more we think about it the more we convince ourselves that the product we sell is only consumed by young people.

Sometimes I think that we should all give up thinking and just look around us because there's plenty of evidence out there that the reality is a whole lot different to what many of us think. So let's look at some of these myths that we seem to think of as fact ... you never know, the reality just might improve your bottom line.

A recent study by Jupiter Research has found that the one age group that spends far more time online than anyone else is the 55+ group. On average people in that age group send 14 hours a week online. The 18-24 and 25-34 age groups spend only 10 hours online while the 35-44 and 45-54 age groups spend around 12 hours a week online. So older people are definitely out there surfing the Net but are they really interested in sex?

Well if you believe the Viagra marketers by that age most guys can't get it up without some chemical stimulation but I wonder just how much of that is hype and how much of that is based on reality. I've got to say that when I worked in the sex industry there just as many horny old guys as younger ones and most of those old guys didn't need anything but the thought of some hot sex to get them aroused and keep them aroused.

And let's be brutally honest here ... even guys who can't get it up are still interested in sex.

If you're not targeting the older market and only pinning your hopes on all those college guys who want to play with Daddy's credit card then you really are leaving money on the table. Of course, you might have to be a little more persuasive in your marketing techniques to attract older surfers but if you really are as good at marketing as you think then that shouldn't be a problem.

And perhaps that story of college kids using Daddy's credit card might have been true once but is it still the case? Are they really as cashed-up as older surfers? I wonder.

And let's not forget that older women are interested in porn too. Of course if you were to hear them talking you would hear them making all the right noises of shock and horror when the subject comes up but the reality is that they're out there surfing the adult sites just like the guys do.

Paid to search
By the time you read this you will have heard that Microsoft, through their Live search platform, will be offering surfers some cash for using Live ... of course conditions do apply. It's an interesting concept and I'hope that it's one that will really be making the guys at Google sit up and take notice.

Personally I hope it works because it's about time that Google was challenged by something other than what to do with all the money it keeps raking in each month. It will also be interesting to see how Google actually responds to the challenge if the concept really does work for Microsoft.

From my brief reading this morning it seems that Live will only be making the offer on cost-per-action advertising so if it works will we see a change in the way Google advertises? I know that Google has been playing with cost-per-action for a while now but they still seem totally locked into their Adsense model but perhaps that may change soon.

Jing
I know that Jing been around for a while but I only came across it yesterday and if you haven't seen it yet then you really should have a look at jingproject.com. In the words of the team behind the product 'Jing is the always-ready program that instantly captures and shares images and video ... from your computer to anywhere ...'

It's free at the moment and open to anyone who wants to give it a try.

Now it's coffee time!