Pornhub wants to take a more Netflix-like approach to porn

Few industries suffered from the rise of the Internet as much as the porn industry. Anyone with an Internet connection and a lock on their door can browse virtually unlimited amounts of porn thanks to the Internet, and it’s all free. Paying for porn isn’t very common because of this, which is why most porn websites have to cover their operational costs using crappy ads that barely pull in any revenue. Rather than just accepting things as they are, however, Pornhub has decided to something a little ambitious, something that could turn the website into the “Netflix of porn.”

The porn industry has had a rocky relationship with the Internet. Before everything moved to the web, explicit content consisted primarily of VHS / DVDs, magazines and pay-per-view rentals. It was an area that people no doubt indulged in but it was almost taboo to talk about. The advent of the Internet put pornography within reach of anyone that wanted to seek it out. What’s more, virtually anyone with a digital camera or webcam could now get into the business, many of which did so (and continue to do so) not for money but as a form of exhibitionism. But the biggest blow to the porn industry was the fact that content that people used to pay good money for was now being offered for free online. While the web made porn much more socially acceptable, it also left much of the traditional industry in shambles and forced those that stuck around to reinvent their business. With more people having access to porn than ever before, it should come as little surprise that porn is more popular now than ever before. The general consensus remains that porn is free on the Internet (well, ad-supported) although there are a number of niche sites and those that offer high-quality content for a premium.