Did you know that the most popular porn websites – PornHub, Brazzers and RedTube – are all owned by MindGeek, a Luxembourg-based Canadian company? It has monopolised the industry by producing and distributing the majority of the content. N13 explores what goes wrong when the porn industry is dominated by one company.
Porn websites are one of the biggest three Internet bandwidth consumers in the world. Every second there are 28,258 distinct users watching porn online, together accounting for an estimated 35% of content downloads. There is no clear data for the total number of porn websites on the internet. But, it is estimated that a new porn video is made every 39 minutes in the United States.
Pornhub, Brazzers and RedTube are some of the biggest porn websites today. However, these three, along with over 100 other porn websites are owned by a single Canadian company based in Luxembourg. The firm named MindGeek which has its own adult film production group receives total daily traffic of 115 million users.
In context, YouTube has a daily viewership of only 30 million users. MindGeek’s websites together have more daily hits than Facebook, Amazon and Twitter.
According to MindGeek’s own numbers, it gets a daily upload of 15 terabytes of data. It employs 1,000 persons at offices across the globe – Montreal, Dublin, London, Hamburg, Bucharest, Nicosia, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego
So what happens when one company dominates the porn industry? Like any other sector, monopoly is bad in the porn industry too. MindGeek is continuously growing with several acquisitions and also setting an exclusive tone for the adult film industry. Although Xvideos, one of the biggest rivals to Porhub, is owned by WGCZ Holdings, the parent company’s portfolio size is nowhere near to MindGeek.
Data usage
Tech observers believe MindGeek probably has more data about users than all the social media giants combined. And this is why the porn websites you watch are able to provide tailor-made content based on your location, search history, interests and fetishes. PornHub, the biggest website under MindGeek’s umbrella, provides frequent updates on recent search trends, user behaviour, etc.
These websites’ algorithms are designed to push the content you are most likely to click on. They make you come back every day or even every other hour. And because of their vertical integration, MindGeek is able to provide this service across all its websites.
If you decide to register on this website as a premium member for exclusive content, you will also share your email id, mobile number, and other personal information. This information is often shared among the sibling websites for further customisation of content.
Porn piracy and underpayment
Monopoly in the porn industry has also led to extreme piracy, one of the biggest concerns for adult film artists. Even if they sell their content to one website, it is often uploaded by third parties in parallel websites, causing revenue loss for the copyright holder. But in most cases, the artists are helpless in taking any action against pirated content. The original website and the other websites are usually owned by the same company. If they indeed take up the matter with MindGeek, the porn artists say they are blacklisted and forced out of the industry.
The porn industry had crashed in 2008 due to the rise of piracy. It has not been able to get back on two feet since the great decline then. So, when the content managers encourage piracy, it leads to underpayments and ill-treatments.
Unlike other film-based industries, porn artists only get paid once for their appearances. They don’t get royalties or money from sales. The decline in revenue has forced many porn artists to enter prostitution and list their names on escort websites.
Sexual exploitation
Content that features sexual abuse, violence, and trafficking often go unchecked in a monopolised industry. MindGeek claims it does not encourage non-consensual content and it takes down any such videos immediately. But there are plenty of websites that still host those types of content.
The company itself would have taken the matter seriously if there were other players who valued the credibility of the content. In a monopolised industry, it is too big a demand for the victims and the general public.
The future
Today, MindGeek is at a point where a second player can’t gain market in the sector. Unless another big player steps into the field or an industry-changing innovation boosts a rival company, MindGeek more or less has its monopoly equipped.
Even if there is such an innovation, the Canadian company is so powerful to acquire and use it for its own strength.
Porn is an area that many players do not want to venture into. This adds to the advantage of MindGeek. Nevertheless, porn artists have no choice. They must wait for a shift in trend if they wish for a better work culture.
Read: Who’s Afraid of Pornography?
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