Tube-site economics and the consolidation of adult video distribution

Abstract. The free-to-view tube-site model that emerged with the 2006–2007 launches of YouPorn, Pornhub, RedTube, and their early competitors did to adult video distribution what Napster did to recorded music a few years earlier — collapsed the established pay-per-view and subscription economics, then rebuilt them around an advertising and upsell-to-premium model dominated by a small number of network operators. This entry surveys the historical trajectory, the present-day consolidated ecosystem under MindGeek/Aylo and its peers, the post-2020 compliance constraints that have reshaped the operating environment, and the structural pressure points that suggest where the model will or will not hold over the next half-decade.

By Lena Hoffmann. 1,610 words · 7 min · 6 citations.