ImaginativePRO Blog

GOOGLE Q2 2013 REVS AND EARNINGS FALL SHORT, MOBILE AD REVENUES THE CULPRIT, SHARE PRICES FALL NEARLY 5%

Click Image To Enlarge 

On July 18, 2013, Google surprised investors with second-quarter results that fell short of expectations thanks partly to a continued drop in ad prices, pushing its shares down 5% in after-hours trading.

Revenues and Earnings Fail To Meet Wall Street Expectations

The search giant reported a profit of $9.56 a share before stock compensation and Motorola restructuring charges, considerably below analysts’ estimates of $10.78 a share. Revenues rose 19%, to $14.1 billion–just a little under estimates of $14.4 billion, but apparently enough, along with the profit shortfall, to raise concerns among investors. Second-quarter earnings last year were $10.12 a share on $9.61 billion in gross revenues.

Share Prices Take A Hit

Google’s shares had fallen nearly 1% to $910.79 in trading on July 18 before the earnings announcement.  Shares hit a record-high $924.69 Monday, up from a recent low of $766 in mid-April. Some analysts already had raised their price targets to $1,000 or more.

Google Inc (NASDAQ.GOOG) shares slid nearly 5% in after hours trading on July 19 after the search giant reported lower than expected earnings and revs for Q2 2013 (Click Image To Enlarge)

The main culprit is dropping mobile search ad prices, which already are at least 40% lower than prices for ads served to desktop computers. Ad prices overall in the quarter fell 6%, more than the 3% analysts expected and the 4% drop in the first quarter. One factor may be that Google is opening up much more mobile ad inventory, which could serve to reduce prices until more advertisers move to reach people while they’re on smartphones and tablets, according to Larry Kim, founder and chief technology officer for search marketing firm Wordstream.

AdWords Ad Serving System Revamped

A big revamp recently of Google’s core AdWords ad serving system, called Enhanced Campaigns, was supposed to help remedy that situation. But its full impact clearly has not yet hit. The change, which officially kicks in July 22 but is already underway at most of Google’s millions of advertisers, is intended to spur more mobile ads and thus more competition in Google’s auction-based ad system, ultimately raising ad prices.

Jared Belsky, executive vice president at digital ad agency 360i, said in an interview that he expects that to happen, but it will take some time for advertisers to tweak their campaigns in the new system. He says about inevitably raising prices.  

“There will be more demand for mobile ads.”

Indeed, Adobe’s advertising business recently reported that it was seeing higher Google ad prices as a result, though Google itself poured cold water on the report.

The overriding question is when that trend will kick in broadly, and by how much mobile ad prices will rise. “We see a more challenging growth outlook,” Scott Kessler, equity analyst with S&P Capital IQ, said in an interview.

Hightlights Of The Q2 2013 Earnings Call Report

A few other details from the quarterly report:

• Paid clicks rose 23% from a year ago, and 4% from the first quarter.
• Non-ad revenues such as Google Apps contracts with businesses, schools, and governments, as well as app sales, shot up 138%, to comprise 8% of Google’s revenues.
• Revenue growth would have been 22% if not for foreign currency rate changes.
• Google expects to continue to make “significant capital expenditures.”
• Headcount totaled 44,777 people–40,178 at Google and 4,599 at Motorola. That’s down from 53,891 in March, when there were 38,739 at Google and 5,170 at Motorola.

 You can listen to a pre-recorded audio of the earnings conference call webcast by clicking the link to Google’s YouTube investor relations site.  For more detail, take a gander at the earnings slides.

Larry Page, Google CEO and co-founder started off Google' Q2 2013 earnings call conference call with analysts (Click Image To Enlarge)

Google CEO Larry Page Talks Up Mobile, Android and Chrome and Adwards Enhanced Campaigns

In a statement, Google CEO Larry Page preferred, as he has for a long time, to cast the mobile issue as a future opportunity more than a current problem. 

He said.  

“Google had a great quarter with over $14 billion in revenue – up 19% year-on-year,  The shift from one screen to multiple screens and mobility creates tremendous opportunity for Google. With more devices, more information, and more activity online than ever, the potential to improve people’s lives even more is immense.”

Page said Google had a “great” quarter, surely a bit of hyperbole given the disappointing numbers and the investor reaction. He immediately talked about the huge shift to mobile devices that he referenced in his statement.

First, he talked about platforms–Android and Chrome.

• 900 million+ Android devices have been activated worldwide. 
• 1.5 million Android devices actived each day. 
• 15 billion+ apps have been downloaded from the Play Store. 
• Chrome, just four years old, has 750 million users worldwide.

Page then turned to apps–a revamped Maps user interface and navigation feature, for instance. Same with Google+, a complete redesign to use the entire screen, which looks the same on all screens and platforms. He also touts the video chat service Hangouts. Knowledge Graph, a catalog of info, keeps growing too. Google Now, the next-gen search service, also launched on Apple’s iOS.

OK, what about that Moto X? “I’m really excited” about what Motorola will launch, he says without mentioning the name of the soon-to-launch signature smartphone.

Then Page went on to the visionary stuff, such as Project Loon to provide global WiFi via balloons.

Google CFO Patrick Pichette (Click Image To Enlarge)

With that short, mostly news-free intro, he turned the call over the Chief Financial Officer Patrick Pichette to go over the numbers. You’ve already seen those, so I’ll spare you a rerun. Pichette did say that revenues would have been up 22% if not for currency fluctuations.

Nikesh Arora, Google Chief BUsiness Officer (Click Image To Enlarge)

Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora says business was especially strong in automotive and in Brazil, to name two divergent sectors. The U.K. was weak, though.

One thing he focuses on is the opportunity to work with brands to advertise more online, the explicit message being: You can do better by shifting TV ad dollars over to online.

He also says the non-ad business is growing rapidly, though he emphasizes the number of devices and apps more than the revenues, which are still fairly insignificant compared with the core business.

The enterprise business, that is sales to businesses of Google Apps software and services, also is growing quickly, he says.

Now on the main event, the Q&A portion:

Q: How is the transition to Enhanced Campaigns going–is ROI going up for customers? And are you providing conversion (sales) tracking across devices?

Arora: Six million campaigns have had to be migrated to the new system, he says. The ROI should continue to improve, he adds.

Q: Are there other hardware categories beyond smartphones and tablets that Google could do?

Page: We’ve been an early innovator in smartphones. Certainly over the long term, we’re going to have new kinds of devices. We’re obviously excited about Google Glass and interacting with new types of hardware. (No news on a smart watch, though, let alone a brain implant.)

Q: More color on expenses given the rise from Q1?

Pichette: Our expenses in Q2 were completely in line with expectations. Sometimes they come in a bit over and sometimes a bit under. That’s the issue between Q1 and Q2.

Q: Is mobile the main factor in ad price declines?

Pichette: It’s just one of the factors. It’s always just to look at CPCs (cost per click, or prices) or just at paid clicks. They can go all over quarter to quarter.

Q: How have hiring opportunities changed in the past year or two?

Page: I don’t think we’ve seen a significant change in hiring in the short term. Retention for the company has been great. We’re able to hire some of the best people in the world. It’s pretty stable.

Q: Why isn’t the R&D budget higher if there are so many opportunities?

Page: It’s our job to figure out how to invest more. It’s pretty easy to come up with ideas. It’s pretty hard to make them real for millions of people. I wish we could just snap our fingers and accomplish this. It’s hard work to scale and that’s what we do.

Q: What specific financial metrics do you use to evaluate Google Fiber as a business?

Pichette: We already had profitability as one of the key criteria for this business. There’s no real rocket science in the finances of it. It’s the technological infrastructure to make it 100 times faster.

Q: Why the networks revenue growth decline to 7% growth this quarter vs. 12% in Q1?

Pichette talks about DLA policies, an acronym whose meaning escapes me for the moment. Update: Actually, I think he was talking about Product Listing Ads.

Q: What gets mobile ad conversion up in the next few quarters?

Arora: We have to understand the cross-device behavior and conversion better. We need to understand the context of the user a lot better.

Q: What’s the timeline for Gmail app updates and impact on this as marketing distribution channel?

Page says he actually doesn’t know the details of the rollout. But Google is trying to improve the commercial offers in email, and trying to make sure people don’t feel spammed.

Q: Update on automated cars and commercialization?

Page: It’s really early on. No real updates, especially on commercialization.

Q: Data centers and other infrastructure is lumpy, you said, but is amortization part of what’s causing the rise in operating expenses?

Pichette: We don’t give the details. But data centers have a long lifetime, but the computers themselves have a much shorter lifetime. But nothing unexpected.

Q: How do you ensure that people at Google keep small entrepreneurial culture Google had in early days?

Page: I’m very excited to see things like Project Loon and automated cars. I want to make sure people at Google have permission to do these things. That’s the only way we end up with things like Android and Chrome. I look at it like a portfolio.

Q: We expected to see some impact of Enhanced Campaigns, like higher prices. Why didn’t that happen?

Page: We’re still in very, very early stages. Biggest change ever in AdWords. It’s been pretty smooth. We’re very pleased with how it’s going. (Which didn’t actually answer the question.)

Q: What’s the impact on network revenues growth of quality improvements?

Pichette: Updated from transcript: Basically it was indeed the quality improvements–cleaning up site, which are part of Google’s network of outside websites where it runs ads, that don’t add much valuable content besides the ads–that were responsible for the decline in growth from 12% in Q1 to 7% in Q2.

Q: Was there any impact from Enhanced Campaigns on paid clicks and CPC? If not, how long will it take? (Good for Goldman Sachs analyst Heather Bellini for repeating the unanswered question. It is clearly the main concern of analysts here, since Enhanced Campaigns was supposed to reverse the downward price trend.)

Arora: We’re still looking at the full impact. Longer-term, we should be able to provide simpler, better, faster ads. Over the long term, it should have a positive impact on conversions.

Q: How did foreign exchange affect ad prices?

Pichette: Marginally.

Q: Gross profit has been trailing revenue growth for three quarters. What drove the step down in Q3 of last year?

Pichette: We care about both revenue growth and profitability. We really look at every incremental profit dollar rather than the percentage margins. We’ll have different margins in our core business, but they offer great, huge revenue pools in actual dollars. And there can be synergistic value between products. That’s the mindset that we apply. We remain focused on our core business. The core is the core is the core. (Pichette goes zen on us.)

Q: Product Listing Ads impact?

Pichette: People want an answer more than 10 blue links. We are signing up tens of thousands of merchants.

Q: Will users be able to purchase items without ever leaving the search results pages at some point? (Very interesting question, given the rising possibility that mobile apps from Amazon, Yelp, and many others could usurp traditional search.)

Page: We’re doing a trial in the Bay Area in same-day delivery. (He doesn’t answer the question, though.)

Q: What about Moto X? Will you be aggressively marketing it? How will you avoid impacting your Android partners?

Page: Nothing about what we’ve said has changed. They’re working hard on making great products. You’ll get to try it out pretty soon.

Q: Will the marketing investment be $500 million as reported?

Page: They’re operating Motorola independently. But I think too much has been made over these things. (Whatever that means.)

Q: How widely do you see Google expanding into subscription businesses–big in three to five years?

Page: I’m sure over time we’ll have products in those areas, but no specific plans to talk about.

Q: Motorola has lost a billion dollars in the last three quarters, so what’s the ultimate aim for Motorola to c0ntribute to Google’s profit base or even spread Google’s services?

Pichette: We divested the home (settop) business for a lot of cash. It’s now lean and mean under Dennis (Woodside, the Google exec now running Motorola).

And that’s a wrap.

Google’s shares are now down a little over 4%, indicating a slight lessening of investor concern. Still, so much for those $1,000 price targets.

COMMENTARY:    Google's disappointing mobile revenue numbers clearly demonstrates the challenges digital advertising platforms face in monetizing mobile.   Facebook is facing the same challenge when it comes to mobile advertising.  Investors wait for Facebook's earnings conference call later today at 5:00 p.m. EST.  

The "Mobile Lifestyle," a term coined by the late Steve Jobs of Apple, has driven more users to use mobile devices like smartphones and tablets to access the Net, read their email, view video and digital images, and log into their favorite social networks,   The rapid movement to mobile devies is not going to change in the foreseeable future.  What will probably change is the number of smartphones and tablets as adoption becomes saturated.

The biggest challenges for digital media platforms like Google, and Facebook for that matter, will be to find new ways to motivate users to use their mobile devices longer and designing compelling ads that are effective in reaching consumers while overcoming the limitations and disadvantages of the smaller display real estate on mobile devices.  

Earlier this year, Facebook launched Facebook Home a mobile app that locked up a smartphone users startup display to show their Facebook newsfeed and what their friends were doing online.  This experiment failed miserably because it was too intrusive and ruined the users overall mobile phone experience.   Google has to be careful that they don't repeat that mistake.

So far I like what Google management said about Enhanced Campaigns during their Q2 2013 earnings conference call, and I tend to agree that it will take a bit while longer to see the benefits of the new AdWords enhancements to multiple platforms.

The new Enhanced Campaigns, which change how ads are run on desktop and mobile devices, have come to 75% of advertisers, a week before it becomes mandatory.

What are Enhanced Campaigns?

What Google says:

According to the official Google adWords Blog Enhanced Campaigns will give marketers the ability to bid on multiple devices more easily by allowing for segmented bidding from within a single campaign. According to the Goog, users are utilizing multiple touch points when making purchasing decisions and are moving seamlessly between devices. They even offered a snazzy slideshow and infographic to show how this is happening:

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Key features

Here’s an overview of some key features.

1. Powerful marketing tools for the multi-device world - People want search results that are relevant for the context they are in — their device, location and the time of day. Enhanced campaigns help you better manage your campaigns and budgets for this multi-device world. With bid adjustments, you can manage bids for your ads across devices, locations, time of day and more — all from a single campaign.   Example: A breakfast cafe wants to reach people nearby searching for "coffee" or "breakfast" on a smartphone. Using bid adjustments, with three simple entries, they can bid 25% higher for people searching a half-mile away, 20% lower for searches after 11am, and 50% higher for searches on smartphones. These bid adjustments can apply to all ads and all keywords in one single campaign.
2. Smarter ads optimized for varying user contexts - People on the go or near your store may be looking for different things than someone sitting at their desk. With enhanced campaigns, you’ll show ads across devices with the right ad text, sitelink, app or extension, without having to edit each campaign for every possible combination of devices, location and time of day.  Example: A national retailer with both physical locations and a website can show ads with click-to-call and location extensions for people searching on their smartphones, while showing an ad for their e-commerce website to people searching on a PC — all within a single campaign.
3. Advanced reports to measure new conversion types - Technology is enabling people to take action on your ads in new ways. Potential customers may see your ad and download your app, or they may call you. It’s been hard for marketers to easily measure and compare these interactions. To help you measure the full value of your campaigns, enhanced campaigns enables you to easily count calls and app downloads as conversions in your AdWords reports. Example: You can count phone calls of 60 seconds or longer that result from a click-to-call ad as a conversion in your AdWords reports, and compare them to other conversions like leads, sales and downloads. 

Upgrading to enhanced campaigns

Enhanced campaigns will roll out to advertisers as an option over the next few weeks, and we plan to upgrade all campaigns in mid-2013. 

Enhanced campaigns are designed to help you succeed in a multi-screen world, but we know that transitioning may involve some initial changes. Here are some resources to help you:

Courtesy of an article dated July 18, 2013 appearing in Forbes and an article dated February 7, 2013 appearing in Zen Search Marketing and an article dated February 6, 2013 appearing Google Inside AdWords 

LOVE SPARK, A "PRODUCTIVITY APP FOR LOVE" THAT TURNS KINKY SEX INTO A TO-DO LIST TO IMPROVE YOUR SEX LIFE

IF YOU’VE GOT GAME, DO YOU REALLY NEED GAMIFICATION?

Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’re in bed with your sweetie. Neither of you is wearing many clothes. (Hot.) Both of you pull out iPhones. (Hotter.) You slowly scroll through your to-do lists of sexual positions. (Hotter still!) Then you send an SMS across the sheets, along with the comment “I’d tap that.” (Ooh, too hot!)

Love Spark is a 'productivity app for love' (Click Image To Enlarge)

But may I be so bold to point out… (Click Image To Enlarge)

…we all look way sexier when our faces aren’t hiding behind a.. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Now, maybe your sex life is more futuristic than mine, but this is the unlikely use case scenario promised by Love Spark, the latest iOS/Android app by Perigee that’s marketed as a “productivity app for love” and is, in no uncertain terms, a to-do list for your sex life.

Sure, it’s full of explicit sexual positions (Click Image To Enlarge)

And even some interesting workflow visualizations (Click Image To Enlarge)

But at its core, Love Spark is a to-do app for your love life (Click Image To Enlarge)

A Perigee rep tells me. 

“We don’t think a to-do feature is the total opposite of human intimacy in this case.  You could for example mark [a] couple of things as to-do as you browse, then when the time is right why not revisit your to-do lists with your lover, or mail [a] couple of suggestions to them as foreplay? We’ve heard beta testers being quite happy about this feature.”

The app offers romantic tips--bundled advice that’s part of the app’s greater monetization scheme (Click Image To Enlarge)

But something about its iBooks-style interface, mixed with tricks like this to be very specific about your preferred sexual positions (Click Image To Enlarge)

…feels oddly sexually repressed, to be perfectly honest (Click Image To Enlarge)

It’s seduction by the school of Asperger’s, complete with efficient, social, and addictive interactions that have been lifted from apps you know--add a position to a to-do list, favorite it, share it and even get an achievement for trying it! Meanwhile, each UI element has been well-considered for maximum generic appeal, with a combination of pure paper and linen textures that make me think “iBooks for sex.”

Maybe you’ll disagree (Click Image To Enlarge)

The app is free to try, so there’s no risk of losing your buck (Click Image To Enlarge) 

Perigee explains.

“We avoided any explicit language or graphics and focused on making Love Spark warm, subtle, and including.  Also, the added humor in the descriptions is there to disarm any fear or anxiety, simply remind the user that there’s no right or wrong, just trying out something new.”

But Love Spark is actually lost in its complete lack of perspective. It’s not a sex app for anyone; it’s a sex app for no one--with a level of optimistic genericism that’s borderline sociopathic. And I’m not even referring to the sexual positions (or places, incidentally) as the most unsettling part: It’s the romantic “ideas” section full of tips that will really make your stomach churn, like this one:

Rock Solid 

"While walking with your partner on a weekend getaway, pick up a smooth stone and say that you will keep it as a memento of your trip.

Later, take the stone to a jeweler and engrave a special message such as 'Our love is rock solid’ and give it to your partner."

Now, this post is a little cruel to Love Spark. In the strictest sense of interface, the app is a solid piece of layout and programming, with bespoke artwork to boot. But the fact that this app was made as anything more than a Spencer Gifts-style novelty gift shows me how out of touch mobile developers are becoming with core human interaction. By all means, have weird sex with the one you love! Just don’t make a to-do list out of it.

You know, unless to-do lists are your extremely specific fetish.

COMMENTARY:   Sooner, rather than later, someone would develop a mobile app like Love Spark.  It was inevitable.  In this age of diminished productivity caused by a constant bombardment of digital imagery and sounds, whether at work or play, there are only so many hours in the day, so I think it was logical to expect that someone, namely the folks at Perigee, would grab the bull by the horns, and try to bring organization and productivity to our sex life. To them I say a hearty "Thank You, whew."  And, not a second too soon.  LOL.  Whether Love Spark will become a huge hit, will depend largely on our individual kinkiness, quest for lust and need to increase our sex life productivity.  But, isn't doing "what comes natural," and with spontaneity preferable to a mobile app?  As a sex guide, yes, but to maximize our sex life productivity, I say NO.        

Courtesy of an article dated May 8, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design

HOW JAPAN'S TENGA REINVENTED THE ART OF MALE MASTURBATION THROUGH TECHNOLOGY, SLICK DESIGN AND ELEGANT PRODUCTS

TENGA, the "New Adult Concept" was created in Japan by Mr. Koichi Matsumoto to satisfy the needs of every man.  Cosmetically elegant and stylish, TENGA produces the latest in disposable masturbation technology that stands out when compared to traditional male masturbation products.

TENGA promises a new level of sexual sensation to its users. Tenga's popular line-up of disposable masturbation products includes Tenga Onacups: (top row, from left-to-right) the Deep Throat Cup, Soft Tube Cup, Rolling Head Cup, and (bottom row, from left-to-right) interior view of the Deep throat Cup, Air Cushion Cup and Double Hole Cup.

[Click Image To Enlarge]

TENGA also produced  the ultra popular TENGA Flip Hole, a line of reusable masturbators, and the next step in the evolution of male masturbation technology.  With an all new set of interior structure including the Waving Ball, Cross Wall, Brushing Edge, and Moving Ball, it is designed to be different from the standard TENGA onacups and the original TENGA Flip Hole. Also as the second reusable TENGA product, it uses the the same revolutionary flip design for cleaning and the expandable mid-section for different sized girth. TENGA has included a mini set of 3 different lotions named “real”, “mild”, and “wild” for further customization of the ultimate experience. 

 

Tenga's winning product is the Tenga Egg, an egg shaped disposable masturbator.  It comes complete with everything needed for one masturbation session. The discreet Egg shaped packaging comes with one Egg masturbator and a lubricant packet. The Tenga Egg offers extra stimulation and joy to the traditional "hand job" for men that are busy and on the go.

The outside of the Temga Egg, looks like an egg.  It is a very smooth and silky texture. The inside of the egg is packed with clusters rounded nubs. The entire egg is white and made of 100% Silicone. Silicone is free of Phthalates and Latex. It is food grade material and hypo-allergenic. The Egg is tasteless and odorless. The inside of the Egg is mildly sticky, but goes away once lubricant is applied.

The Tenga Egg comes packaged in a white plastic egg covered with a plastic wrap. The wrap has small silver designs on the package to show the texture of the masturbator. The front has the name on the product in English. The back of the packaging is in Japanese.  

The plastic wrapping can be torn off. Next the plastic Egg pops open at the middle to expose the masturbator. The masturbator can then be removed from the egg. It has a small plastic spacer inside the egg to keeps its shape. And the lube package is placed inside the plastic spacer. 

The Tenga Egg comes in six inside textures: Twister, Spider, Wavy, Clicler, Silky and Stepper. Each inside texture is unique and printed on the packaging.   

Tenga uses a slick water-based lubricant that works well with the Tenga Egg. It is single use as is the Egg. Both work well together. There is about a tablespoon of lubricant in the package. It provides enough to cover the inside of the Egg.  It lasts for about a 20-minute session. 

 

It took years of engineering to develop the right design that delivers the ultimate experience. TENGA uses soft, skin-like materials in combination with soft foam creating not only the most comfortable, but the most ergonomically correct masturbator on the market. Massage nubs of different size and shapes are used in all the different models to create an unique experience for each model. Select a product below and find out how different they are.

 

COMMENTARY:   Tenga is the first adult wellness company that has brought dignity and class to male masturbation.  Masturbation is a natural human biological function that is often viewed as taboo, ridiculed and even frowned upon by some cultures and religions. 

At the age of 34, Koichi Matsumoto, the founder of Tenga, left his job as a used car salesman to start his own company.  With 10 million in yen he had saved, he began to work on designing his own products.  After various ideas, he picks “This one! This is what I am going to revolutionize!” That product theme was adult goods.

Three years after becoming self-employed, with various trials and errors behind him and his self funding starting to reach an end, March 2005 saw the birth of TENGA Inc.

July 7th of that same year, the fruits of his blood, sweat and tears, the products which he put his heart and soul into, the original 5 types of “TENGA” were released.

Tenga became virtually an overnight sensation in Japan through its unique product designs.  In its first year of operations, Tenga sold over 1 million units without media coverage or Japanese celebrity endorsements.  

Tenga has really differentiated itself from competitors through the unique designs, shapes, colors, materials, textures, packaging and functionality of its products.  For Tenga, "The Future of Masturbation is Now".  Tenga has truly brought high-technology to male masturbation.  Tenga is the first company to develop the single session or disposable masturbator.   

Since 2007, the TENGA brand is available globally, and is now sold in over 40 countries worldwide, including among others, the USA, the UK, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Russia and Singapore.

TENGA Co., Ltd. has collaborated with Japan’s largest condom manufacturer OKAMOTO to produce the “OKAMOTO x TENGA” CUP series of products available in pharmacies and drugstores across Japan since September 2007.  

In November 2010, TENGA Co., Ltd. collaborated with Japan borne clothing labels Roen, VANQUISH, SWAGGER, XLARGE® and roar for a Limited Edition product line up to raise money for the STOP AIDS fund for World AIDS Day.  

Now in their seventh year, TENGA has sold over 15 million units worldwide, and is currently the number 1 brand of male masturbation products by units sold.

I love happy endings, don't you??!!

WHAT AMERICANS WOULD GIVE UP FOR THE INTERNET: ALCOHOL, EXERCISE, SHOWERS AND EVEN SEX!

A BOSTON CONSULTING GROUP STUDY OF THE INTERNET’S IMPORTANCE IN OUR DAILY LIVES REVEALS SOME SHOCKING FIGURES.

How important is the Internet to us, really? That’s what Boston Consulting Group asked in their recently released study (PDF), which weighed the Internet’s importance on everything from the global economy (which will account for 5.2% of GDP for G20 countries by 2016) to individual lives (polls found that 21% of Americans would give up sex for Internet access, but only 10% would give up their cars).

The results offer us an endless array of discussion points, and thanks to a collection of simple infographics, we can peruse the data quickly.

Click Image To Enlarge

For one, despite the innovations from American companies like Microsoft, Google, and Apple, America isn’t the proportionate leader in Internet commerce. By 2016, we’re the 6th-placed country, and we fall below the average of developed markets. It sounds hard to believe until you examine the numbers. In the U.K., 12.4% of the entire GDP will be represented through online spending. In the U.S., it’ll be just 5.4%. We’re behind, and nothing is bucking the trend.

Things get really interesting though when you start asking people what they would give up to keep the Internet in their lives. 73% of Americans say they’d give up alcohol. 43% would give up exercise. And 21% would give up sex. (Is that high or low? Depends, I guess, on your own answer.) Just 10% would give up a car, which hints that most Americans would rather have a car than be celibate. America!

Click Image To Enlarge

However, the more interesting point (to me) is that our perceived value of the Internet is highly inflated. Americans see the services worth about $3,000 a year. (As a telecommuter for half a decade, I’d go even higher with that figure.) But what’s the Internet really worth, in terms of its cost? $472/year. So we’re all basically getting a 650% return on investment.

That’s really what it means when something is a productive technology, rather than a consumer good. In a world where most of us expect everything to plummet in price, and many of us lament companies like Apple’s high margins (50-100%) as generating “overpriced” products, we’re completely out of sync with the value of digital services and online products. It’s like the dot-com boom still lives and breathes in all of us, and we still see the images and videos streaming to our computer screens as a bit too wonderful to be true.

Given that we live in a world full of skepticism, where most of us take the ingenuity around us for granted (in part by necessity, since we can’t spend all day oohing and ahhing at flat displays and planes floating in the sky), the fact that we overvalue the Internet--that we intrinsically hold it sacred--is actually a somewhat beautiful idea, no?

COMMENTARY:    Let's face it people, we are all addicted to the internet or slaves to it.  There's no two ways about it.   The internet has replaced or quickly replacing print, film and television media, and it's available to us 24/7, 365 days a year.  It appears that everything is going into the cloud, insuring that we become slaves to the internet.  

I don't know about you, but I can do without the internet, but as a blogger, I need the internet so that I can provide my loyal readers with interesting and informative content.   That's my excuse.   However, I would never giveup sex for the internet.  Never, never, ever.  

One of the new trends I have been reading about is how the internet has disrupted our intimate relationships.   Couples and spouses are using the Internet to track each other.  It is now one of the key sources of information for finding evidence in a divorce.  

The internet has also given rise to social media snooping firms that track what we say and post online and provide this information to employers and insurance companies. The FBI, CIA and NSA now use the internet as a key source of information in their war against crime and terrorism.  

I think one of the reasons that individuals are willing to give up sex for the internet, is because the internet has become the principal media for delivering sexual content of all times.  If you can imagine it, you will find it on the internet, so it is quite possible, that the internet has in some ways supplanted sex from an intimate relationship.   If your girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse won't do it, you can easily find somebody who will online.  That sounds sad, but true.     

Courtesy of an article dated March 21, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design 

 

HARRIS SURVEY FINDS 55% OF ONLINE GAMERS ARE WOMEN OVER 35, THEY ARE HAPPIER AND HAVE MORE SEX THAN NON-GAMING WOMEN

Now that I have your attention, let’s look at this enlightening data from a marketing perspective. This result is from a Harris Interactive survey of 2,000 adults in October 2011 on the behalf of GameHouse. There is much discussion around the billion-dollar gaming industry and how to understand and connect with the target audience. Surprise -- online gamers are comprised of 55% women with the majority over the age of 35. They tend to be happier, engaged socially online and apparently have more sex.

Click Image To Enlarge

Women Gamer Stats Harris Interactive:

• 64% are over age 35
• 61% play between 8 p.m. and midnight
• 86% socialize once per day online
• 57% have sex once per week vs. 52% of non-gamers
• 61% play to relieve stress
• 58% play to alleviate boredom and take a mental break

Let’s take a look at one of our website partners, Winster.com. It offers many free multi-user games that encourage collaboration instead of competition, strengthening social networks while promoting positive social interaction. A recent 2011 survey of their registered players returned 8,000 responses with the average age of 50. The top reasons for playing social games was for social interaction, to relieve stress, relax, and enjoy mental stimulation in a friendly gaming environment. The Boomer women stats are in alignment with the Harris Interactive survey.

Winster.com Survey Findings:

• 70% of players are ages 45 and up
• 80% of players are women
• 57% of players are between 45-64 years old
• 83% of players have made at least one friend
• 77% of players play more than one hour a week
• 37% of players play more than five hours a week
• 87% of players play from home

The panel I am speaking on at the Consumer Electronic Show’s Silvers Summit Jan. 10 is about the online gaming industry. The gamer panel includes Randy Paynter from Care2, Asi Burak of Games for Change and Fred Howard of Kingsisle Entertainment. Together, we will uncover the facts and stats of this growing industry and dismiss the myths and misconceptions of Boomers and seniors. Attendees and astute marketers will also better understand the key female target audience economic strength, who makes or influences 80% of the household decisions and one of the ways to reach her online.

Marketers and ad agencies always ask us for new online ideas – beyond the banners. Some of the unique online advertising programs we utilize is integrating brands into games, pages, video and content on our 140 site partners. The questions marketers should ask include: Is my brand reaching and engaging baby Boomers online where they spend their time on a trusted site with relevant content? Is this custom program scalable? Will my brand be in a premium position?

Whether its gaming, gardening, grandparenting, socializing, quilting, chatting on auto sites, learning about finance and wealth strategies, reading about health issues or planning the next big trip – the fact is Boomers/seniors are on that site by choice. They have a relationship with the site, content and in some cases other members.

Boomers are online 15 hours per week vs. teens’ 13 hours per week and hold 70% of the U.S. wealth. No wonder Boomers are online so much, sites are improving their content, have an authentic voice, offer relaxation, stimulation, health benefits, empowerment and an added bonus – a better sex life!

COMMENTARY:   I knew that more 35 to 49 year olds were playing online games and willing to pay (they make up a larger percentage of pay for play than teens and Gen-Y's), but I am just stunned to hear they have more sex than non-gamers.  I guess the big question is: Why?  Could it be perhaps that gaming relieves the stress, increases euphoria, making females 35 and older more in tune with their sexuality and superiority over males in bed.  Perhaps it is the types of games that these females play.  There are a lot of online fantasy games with female warriors and heroines, and this could be a tipping ponit to get those sexual juices flowing.   Or, could it be that after playing a challenging and rewarding game, and coming out on top, or reaching level 10, that women suddently feel this empowerment to beat the man, in bed of all places. Hmm.  Just a few theories.  I think we need to ask psychologists and sex therapists. If any of my fans hold the answers, post some coments, please.

Courtesy of an article dated December 19, 2011 appearing in MediaPost Publications Engage:Boomers and an article dated November 28, 2011 appearing in Mashable

DIRECT MARKETER STEVE WARSHAK, THE 'KING OF MALE SEXUAL ENHANCEMENT', GETS PRISON TERM REDUCED FROM 25 TO 10 YEARS

CINCINNATI — The founder of an Ohio company that sold male sexual enhancement tablets and other herbal supplements had the prison sentence for his conviction on fraud and other charges reduced to 10 years on Tuesday by a federal judge.

Steve Warshak was convicted in 2008 of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Warshak's company, Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, made products including Enzyte, which claimed to enhance male sexual performance and was promoted by a character known as "Smilin' Bob."

 

Warshak and other company officials were accused of bilking thousands of customers who bought Berkeley's herbal supplements via mail order. The fraud included false advertising, lying to banks and making unauthorized charges on thousands of customer credit cards, prosecutors said.

Click Above Image To Run Video

A federal appeals court last year ordered a new sentencing hearing, saying the trial court wasn't clear enough about its basis for arriving at the sentence.

Before reducing Warshak's sentence, U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel noted that "the court views Steven Warshak as a very clever and confident con man."

The judge said that he was mostly unimpressed with Warshak's claim that he had turned his life around and by the letters written by friends on his behalf, but decided that several factors warranted a shorter sentence, The Cincinnati Enquirer http://bit.ly/qv4fes) reported.

The most important factor was one cited by the federal appeals court — that the money lost by Warshak's customers may have been less than the $400 million estimated at his first sentencing, the newspaper reported. Spiegel defended his original estimate of $400 million, but agreed to reduce it to $100 million.

The judge said another factor was the disparity between Warshak's sentence and those of his 10 co-defendants, who all were sentenced to two years or less.

Warshak thanked the judge for his reduced sentence, adding that

"I know it comes with your high expectations, and I won't let you down."

Federal prosecutors objected to the reduction, saying nothing about the case has changed since Warshak's original sentencing. They also questioned the sincerity of Warshak's remorse, the newspaper reported.

Anne Porter, an assistant U.S. Attorney said. 

"Today is the first time Mr. Warshak has said he is sorry and admitted responsibility.  It's too late."

But Warshak told the judge that he has learned a "life-changing lesson" and wants to teach business ethics after his release from prison.

COMMENTARY:  In a blog article dated October 20, 2009, I covered the arrest and conviction of Steve Warshak, the founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, the manufacturer of Enzyte male enhancement pills.   Enzyte natural male enhancement pills, or penis enlargement pills as they are commonly referred to, never worked, and the false and misleading guarantees that Mr. Warshak's company made got him, his mother Harriet Warshak and ten other co-defendants prison time.

In today's advertising market, advertisers use images to attract consumers. One common method used to coerce people into thinking that they need a product is to prey on their insecurities. These modern tools advertisers hide within their advertisements are considered to be modern myths. One of the most widely used myths is that: ". . . Your body isn't good enough ".  This practice is more easily recognized in advertisements geared toward women which tend to prey on female's insecurities about the size and shape of their bodies; however men are also falling victim to advertisements which tell them that their body is not good enough. Advertisers prey on men who buy into the idea that their body needs to be different in order to have a better life. Crafty entrepreneurs are getting rich quick by selling herbal supplements that promise male enhancement to gullible male consumers. The manufacturer of Enzyte used " Smiling Bob " to make millions of dollars to capitalize on men's insecurities, to convince consumers that there is a solution to their feelings of inadequacy, and to mask their false claims about the potential results of using their herbal supplement.

Enyte is one of the latest in a long line of potions and devices that capitalized on men's insecurities about the size and function of their genitalia. Although many men do suffer from erectile dysfunction which may require prescription medication, there are many herbal supplements available that claim to improve sexual stamina and increase penis size.". . . Ever since Viagra exploded on the market eight years ago, it has been almost impossible to watch television without seeing ads for drugs designed to enhance a man's sexual experience (ABC News) . Obviously, there are a lot of men purchasing these herbal supplements, so the market has become flooded with Ads. Even though the ingredients in most of these supplements are similar to those found in most energy drinks, and there is no clinical evidence to prove that they work , advertisers sell these products to consumers whom are willing to try anything once they have been convinced that their body isn't good enough. Enyte's " Smiling Bob " has a convincing smile which has fooled many gullible consumers into believing that they need to use an herbal supplement to have a good sex life.

In the "Smiling Bob " ads, Enzyte wants the viewer to believe that he is inadequate and that by taking an herbal supplement, he will overcome this inadequacy. The idea that one's sexual performance will be enhanced carries the myth that one's body isn't good enough into the subconscious mind of the viewer. The Christmas edition " Santa Bob " advertisement has Bob dressed as Santa Claus with a line of women waiting to sit on his lap, and claims that after taking Enzyte " . . . there's no way of mistaking this Santa for an elf anymore " ( You Tube ). There are even late-night infomercials, paid for by the manufacturers of Enyte, that interview women who say that size does matter. These women talk about how much better sex is with a man who has been taking a male enhancement pill. Many men succumb to the temptation and try a male enhancement pill as a result of these kinds of advertising practices. In order to seduce the prospective buyer even further, Enzyte offers a free trial with a money back guarantee; however, after they have billed a credit card, the first time, the Enzyte pills continue to be shipped to the consumer's address, and the fine print says that Enzyte can continue to charge their credit card.

The Enzyte ads are designed to convince men that not only will they experience a fuller, firmer erection, but that they will actually gain length and girth by taking a once a day male enhancement tablet. There are no clinical trials or studies that support the claims that Enzyte, and other similar companies, make about these sexual enhancement supplements. Even though there is information all over the Internet stating that these herbal supplements do not increase size or enhance performance, advertisements from Enzyte, and other similar male enhancement supplements, are prevalent advertisements on the Internet today.  

A former Vice President of the company testified that Warshak required customers to provide ". . . a notarized statement from a doctor. . ." proving that they had small genitalia in order to get the money back guarantee mentioned in the Enyte Ads! U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel also ordered Warshak and Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, along with other defendants, to forfeit more than $500 million dollars. ". . .   Judge Spiegel said.

"This is a case about greed. Steven Warshak preyed on perceived sexual inadequacies of customers ". 

While reviewing the case.  

As odd as it may seem, there are repeat customers who even today continue to purchase male enhancement supplements similar to Enzyte.   Despite the fact that there is no clinical evidence to support any real results, some men probably get results because of the placebo effect. Either the results are psychosomatic and they choose to continue taking the supplement, or the fact that they couldn't prevent Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals from continuing to send them refills without providing notarized documentation from a doctor stating that they had small genitalia kept most of its customers quiet.  As for the “ satisfied customers, " they are more than likely plagued, like many men, with anxiety about sexual performance, and would probably achieve the same results with a sugar pill that is labeled the same as the Enzyte that they have been taking. The Enzyte advertisements are a powerful example of the effects that images have on consumers in today's culture. There is no way for consumers to avoid the images all around them, but awareness of the types of myths that are used in conjunction with these images can be the first step toward having a choice about how to feel about one's body.

Let's look at a few of the infamous Enzyte TV commercials with the character Smiling Bob:

 

 

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed this blog post as much as I have.

Courtesy of an article dated September 20, 2011 appearing in The Republic

 

VOYURL: THE SOCIAL VOYEURISM SITE THAT LET'S FRIENDS SHARE WHAT EACH IS LOOKING AT ONLINE IN REAL-TIME

FAST COMPANY'S Co.Design brings you an exclusive peak at the beta of Voyurl.com, which lets you publicly stream what you're looking at online, live and in real-time.

Voyurl is a startup social thingy with a weird pitch: you sign up with the service and install a tool in your browser that takes your "clickstream" -- i.e., everything you look at in your browser -- and streams it live, in real-time, in public. In return, you get to look over the shoulders of other people who have elected to share their clickstreams in the same way. And Voyurl gets all that yummy data to "monetize." Sound creepy as all hell? Founder Adam Leibsohn gets that. (The homepage even has an "It's OK" tab that addresses the whole creepiness issue.) He just doesn't see things that way.

In fact, he says he started Voyurl as a reaction against the kind of "grey market" data-pimping that makes certain people run screaming from the "social web." "I saw a lot of white-label apps that were gathering and selling personal data in this really irresponsible way -- people would tell me that they literally do nothing for their users, while collecting all their information behind the scenes," Leibsohn says. With Voyurl, "we take that data and turn it around and give it back to you, to improve the user experience."

But what is the user experience, exactly? Voyurl is in private beta, so that's still being worked out -- but basically it works like a mashup of Twitter and the "history" function in your web browser. The Voyurl browser extension broadcasts your "clickstream" (which can be linked to your identity, left anonymous, or switched off at will) into a dashboard displaying every site you visit, as well as every site that someone you "follow" visits. By clicking "Live," you can also watch all this information (including the clickstreams of every other Voyurl user) cascade down your screen in real-time, complete with "Play" and "Pause" buttons and a list of powerful filtering categories:

And that's pretty much it, for now. So why should you sign up -- what's it all for? Even Leibsohn wasn't able to answer that question very clearly. Which makes Voyurl a kind of digital Rorschach blot for its own users (or "members", as Leibsohn prefers to call them): you see what you want to see in it. My editor saw a potentially powerful replacement for social bookmarking and newsreading tools. (Why wait for someone to decide to tweet or post a link, when you can just scan what they're actually paying attention to, right from the source?) Meanwhile, Leibsohn -- a former branding strategist -- waxed ecstatic about "verticals" and "personal analytics." (Voyurl's filtering tools offer endless ways of slicing and dicing content-consumption and browsing habits -- catnip to any professional trendspotter.) Yet another colleague wondered what would happen if celebrities got involved: would you be interested in watching over Justin Bieber's shoulder as he surfed the web? (Maybe not, but zillions of "Beliebers" probably would.)

As for all that data that Voyurl collects, Leibsohn first plans to use it to power a recommendation engine (which isn't working yet in the beta site it actually is working, I just didn't have enough friends/followers on my account yet to make it functional), and, later, possibly sell-slash-share it with partner sites. But isn't that what those "grey market" apps he hates are already doing? "I'm not interested in just selling the data to anyone and then walking away, which is what usually happens," Leibsohn says. "Maybe our data can help improve other services that our members already love and use, like movie recommendations or music sites." So far no such partners are lined up yet, since Voyurl is still gathering its own user base and refining its features.

But if people can get over the creepiness hurdle, Voyurl's weird vagueness of purpose (combined with its cute-but-functional design) seems tailor-made to encourage the kind of emergent innovation that other seemingly "pointless" social networks have come to enjoy. Which Leibsohn would be thrilled with, of course. "It could go a lot of different ways," he says. "The purpose is to make data friendly and useful for people, but the way that gets realized can change any given day." I've tried Voyurl, and I can't see myself using it regularly -- but then again, I was one of the rubes who thought Twitter was stupid in the beginning, too.

COMMENTARY:    I see an opportunity here, as creepy as that may sound.   No doubt that there is a strong odor of voyeurism to Voyurl.  You are telling others, "come and watch what I do online". Who wouldn't want to know what Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber, Charlie Sheen or Lady Gaga do on line?  We become the online papparazzi.  Beyond the voyeurism and paparazzism, this could become a marketer's goldmine--online behavioral analytics on steroids, and in real-time.  The ability to share EXACTLY what we are doing online in real-time is invaluable to online marketers.  

I have often used the terms "creepy", "scary", "stalking", "intrusive" and even "dangerous" to describe location-based social networks like Foursquare.   With Foursquare you can check-in and let brands and close friends know where you are, but up until now, tracking our exact online behaviors in real-time was the domain of the FBI, NSA, CIA and law enforcement authorities. These organizations use high technology and clandestine sleuthing applications to track the online behaviors of terrorists and criminals.  

Browsers are now all equipped to track your online history, so you can backtrack to a site you visited if you forgot to bookmark it.  Parents also use software applications that they can use to track the online behaviors of their kids, but those online behaviors are not in real-time.

There are certainly some risks using Voyurl.  You would certainily not want other's, even your closest friends, to know where you bank, who your doctor is, which adult-oriented sites you visit, and who your friends are (they may not want others to know that).       

Voyurl could become a real money-making machine for celebrities and sports personalities. They could actually charge their friends or followers for watching what they do online.  I have a feeling that people would actually pay to know what the Kardashian sisters and Lady Gaga are up to.  

Facebook has become addictive to many users, costing employer's over $5 billion in lost employee productivity each year.  Voyurl would take that to the next level.   I can bet you a case of bananas that a certain percentage of the internet population would join Voyurl.   Voyurl's homepage pretty much says it all:

"The internet is a big place. But when you rely on people, and not algorithms, you get a chance to see things differently. Take a peek; you might like what you see". 

Courtesy of an article dated  March 2, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design

By TwitterButtons.com 

THE 'SEXPERIENCE 1000' SURVEY REVEALS THAT THE BRITS ARE VERY SEXUALLY LIBERATED AND EXPERIMENTAL, HOW DO YOU MATCHUP?

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

The Sexperience 1000 allows you to examine fascinating data from a sex survey as a fun, interactive experience.

Every sex study that comes out seems to fall into two camps. One is stuffed with cheesy, "relatable" graphics that end up talking down to young adults. The other packs too much irrelevant information into a dry, overly serious format. Either way, you walk away, well, unsatisfied. The new Sexperience 1000, a survey of 1,000 sexually active Brits, avoids all the cliches, with timely content packaged in a vibrant interactive experience that invites plenty of exploration. Ahem.

The interactive site is part of the Sexperience project mounted byChannel 4, the U.K.'s public service television station. Sexperience hopes to highlight true stories about everything from masturbation to contraception to help people understand what's right for them. While the Sexperience site includes content like message boards and videos (which can't be seen in the U.S.), the Sexperience 1000 is, in a way, the most helpful piece of information because it allows a user to slice and dice the experiences of the respondents and learn that there's no such thing as normal.

The brilliance in the Sexperience 1000 interface is that instead of transforming the data into impersonal blocks of data, each person who answered the questions is turned into an anthropomorphized symbol that appears to almost walk into formation around their answers.

 

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

To the top is a menu that organizes the answers to questions ranging from "How many different sexual partners have you had?" to "Have you ever cheated on a partner?"

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

To the right hand side is a menu that allows users to filter the results by sex, age, education, even the kind of car they drive.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

A click of the menu highlights the filtered results; here the men get colored blue while the rest are rendered gray.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

But here's one of the coolest features. If you click on a single character, you can see all their answers.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

And after you select a particular "person," you can also choose to follow them throughout the data sets. These ones I've selected turn into the yellow characters in some of the graphs.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

This feature is especially useful for people who may want to know how their own behavior tracks. I can imagine someone trying to find someone with a similar age and experience to compare themselves to across the questions. Or maybe learn that doggy style isn't as rare as one would think.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

But even for those of us not worried about how many people our age are doing it, the Sexperience 1000 is fascinating fun. Like discovering the fact that classical music fans aren't so interested in role playing.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

People who shop at the grocery chain Waitrose may or may not be cheating on their partners.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

Single women are very conscious about their body image.

[Click To View The Sexperience Interactive ]

And, of course, the majority of people who masturbate once a day (or more) are male.

COMMENTARY:     I found the results of the Sexperience survey very eye-opening.  The number of individuals who masturbated  definitely outnumbered those that did not at all or refused to answer.   Basically, about 85% of Brits masturbate or exercising self-pleasure.   Hehehe.  Ladies, if you need any help with technique, please let me know.   

I was surprised to discover that the number of Brits who did NOT cheat on their partner outnumbered those that did by at least 2-to-1.   I think some partners have discovered that self-masturbation is a whole lot less risky than cheating.  

I also found it hilarious and surprising that many Brits would like to try bondage & discipline (B&D) and Sadomasochism (S&M).    I've discovered that some chicks like tying up and whipping their partners.  It's "payback time" for the females.  A way for females to let their male partner know that they maybe in charge at work, but now they are in charge.  Take it to them.  

I read that Butt spanking can be very pleasurable, and women seem to like that too.   I've noticed that mature females have a surprised look on their face, when its done to them, but then they purrr afterwards. spank, spank, spank... To "oil, or not to oil", that is the question.  A good Longo or Thai ball massage can work wonders after a long day at the office or to relieve the stress of the day.

I love how those "pink" (females) and "blue" (males) animated figures "scurry" around the screen in that interactive Sexperience chart.   The Brits really are a lot more sexually liberated than I thought.  I especially love their accent.   Thanks Sexperience for designing that infographic.  It will become one of my all-time favorites.

Courtesy of an article dated December 31, 1969 appearing in Fast Company Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘CELEBRITY’ LOVE DOLLS THE LATEST CRAZE IN CHINA, WITH LIKENESSES OF CHINESE CELEBRITIES AND EVEN BARACK OBAMA

SILICONE rubber dolls which resemble Chinese film stars Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi are in hot demand. They provide “sex services” at RM10 per hour in China, Nanyang Siang Pau reported.

The silicone rubber dolls, similar to “blow-up dolls”, were also available in the likeness of Maggie Cheung, Bridget Lin and contestants of the popular Supergirls singing competition in China.

An undercoer reporter visited an entertainment outlet in Hu Lu Dao of Liaoning province was stunned to see the dolls in a room for him to choose from.

He hesitated but the boss then gave him a demonstration by fondling “Lin’s” breast and the doll replied “tao yan!” (hate it, in a coy tone).

Americans may have fallen out of love with President Barack Obama, but the president of the United States is still an object of affection for the Chinese, who have remodelled him as a blow-up sex doll.

The boss said the dolls, equipped with a computer-controlled voice system, would make different sounds according to the movements.

He said he planned to expand his business for women by providing Chow Yuen Fatt and Jackie Chan dolls due to the overwhelming response for these celebrity dolls.

The extra-marital affair of a contractor was exposed after he told pressmen the heroic act of him catching a robber in Johor Baru.

The 44-year-old Singaporean informed Sin Chew Daily on Tuesday that he was injured while fighting a robber, who tried to rob his “wife”.

After the news was published, a woman telephoned the daily claiming she was the wife of the contractor.

She said they have three children aged between seven and 21.

“Our relationship turned sour after he was having an affair with the woman,” she claimed.

The daily’s reporter attempted to contact the other woman but she hung up the phone upon hearing the question.

COMMENTARY:   When I first heard about the popularity of silcone celebrity love dolls in China, I knew I had to look into it.

Chinese love dolls are not a Chinese phenomena, but are also very popular in Japan, where the love doll craze really started back in 2006.

Celebrity silicone love dolls are not cheap, costing $6500 to $20,000 or more depending on the degree of detail and customization.   An Italian gentlemen missed his ex-girlfriend so much that he spent $15,000 for a silicon replica. 

Today, love dolls are gaining popularity throughout Asia, in Japan, Korea and China.   They are also available in the U.S. through adult shops and online sites.

Courtesy of an article dated May 9, 2009 appearing in The Star Online

PORN: THE BUSINESS OF PLEASURE, THE STATE OF INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY, HIV SCARE, TOO BIG TO FAIL?

Who knew online porn was so big? Apparently, size does matter. Of course, none of our genteel readership visits any porn sites, but you'll probably be surprised to find out that 70% of men aged 18 to 24 visit porn sites in a typical month. And ladies, don't be acting all smug now, because one in three porn viewers are women. Take a look at the full-sized graphic below from those cool artists at OnlineMBA.

Why should we care about this porno infographic? Because porn has historically led video tech into brand-new areas, such as VHS tapes, DVDs, streaming video, and now — dare we even imagine? — porn is going 3D.

The second most astonishing number in this fact-filled tableau: Internet porn earns $4.9 billion worldwide per year. That's particularly laughable in light of the fact that sexual material on the Internet is so ubiquitous and easy to find for free. Who's paying for this stuff?

So that's how the porn business continues to thrive: It's built on the backs of people who don't know how to find stuff on the Internet.

COMMENTARY:   With 25% of all searches porn related, 8% of all email porn related, and 12% of all websites porn related, no one in entertainment can afford to ignore the porn industry.  Although cable television has embraced sex and pornography as part of its programming schedule in the past, most recently, it’s become a mandatory characteristic of its lineup. 

Pay cable seems to violate the Cambria List (a list of sex acts pornographers should avoid so as to dodge possible legal problems with the U.S. Government) more often than actual porn does.  Porn embraces the Internet and suffers while subscription-based television embraces sex and wins. How ironic.

One economic depression later, the porn industry is hurting and being a little more creative about finding a solution.  In fact, Hustler’s Larry Flynt asked Congress in January for a $5 billion dollar bailout of the adult entertainment industry.   “People are too depressed to be sexually active,” says Flynt. “This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such, but they cannot do without sex.”   Although the plea didn’t work, the real fact that Flynt highlights is that porn isn’t going anywhere.  It is a part of our culture and too big a business to fold over.  It’s an entertainment staple, and this is exactly the sticking point that top porn companies like Vivid and Digital Playground have embraced and are using to find solutions to their industry’s problem. If you can’t beat them, join them.

Looks like everyone is dealing with hard times, and the American Porn Industry is on hard times in more ways then one.

With overall Adult DVD sales down 22% and with a forecast the only looks like it’s going to get more grim Pornography industry leaders Larry Flint and “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis are asking for a $5 billion federal bailout of adult entertainment because “the economy has made America’s appetite for sex go limp.”

Reports indicate that Francis plans to go before Congress to ask for his own stimulus package. “Francis sees his industry like the big three automakers, only BIGGER” sources say. “Sounds like someone has a bone to pick.”

All puns aside that Porn Industry is starting to look more and more recession-proof then estimates had first indicated. With tons of new and free alternatives popping up constantly the tradition adult DVD industry my be on it’s last legs. Forbes at one point estimated that the American Porn Industry was making between $5 and $14 billion dollars annually.

Times are so bad for some that Larry Flint is sueing two of his nephews over there uses of the family name in there own industry movies as is being reported by the LA Times.

The nephews say they have every right to use their own name, and Dustin Flynt tells the Times he believes his uncle is dealing with “inferiority issues.” Apparently growing up in the porn biz isn’t as invigorating as it sounds. “I spent a lot of blood, flesh and tears working directly for my family,” says Dustin Flynt, “and it wasn’t easy.”

If the economy wasn't enough, the U.S. porn industry came in for severe criticism in October 2010 as it was revealed that  a popular x-rated film star had tested positive for HIV.  [I can tell you her name, but I would have to kill you.]

The disclosure drew criticism from health campaigners, who described the positive test as 'preventable' because porn stars often have unprotected sex on film.

Last year it was revealed up to 22 performers had contracted the HIV virus, but the U.S. adult industry only admitted to only the above case since the 2004 outbreak.

It was inevitable that Internet pornography would go social.  Individuals can make friends with other individuals with similar pornography tastes.  The socialization of porn just like Facebook, allowing you to upload porn videos, recommend porn sites, porn films, porn magazines, sex aids, and so forth.  You can even chat on line and form groups.   If you network enough you can cut to the chase, and find exactly what you like just from "talking" with your friends or followers. 

In conclusion, the porn industry is dead, following in line with what is similar to what Napster, Limewire, or Morpheus was doing to the music industry.  Target little guys, make them pay big fines, and showcase their trials on tv and newspaper.  Here's the kicker: guys can watch FREE porn and not share it like its some music that an artist made (although pornstars also called themselves artists). Who shares copyrighted porn lol brilliant strategy to take down Free porn. The only person who is sharing this "copyrighted" material is the free porn sites themselves, which they can stop from happening if porn files 1 lawsuit.  If Free porn's servers are located in China or any other country with no laws on piracy they will just move their servers over there and still share their copyrighted material.   Any person can film themselves and upload it to a website.  The internet killed the pornstar.  Just like video killed the radio star.  Its called corporate strategy and no one in porn thought of free porn being a big threat, as if people were going to pay for named persons from porn forever.  Guess what porn there are hotter women we can watch full vids of doing whatever you can think of that you are selling for free on various websites.  Free porn hung the mission accomplished banner a long time ago.  

CAUTION:   YOU ARE READING THIS BLOG POST OF YOUR OWN FREE WILL. THE CONTENT PROVIDED IS THE RESULT OF RESEARCH ON THE PORN INDUSTRY.  I AM NOT PEDDLING PORN, PROVIDING LINKS TO ONLINE INTERNET CONTENT OR POSTING PORNOGRAPHIC IMAGES.  I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY PERMANENT PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS THIS ARTICLE MAY CAUSE TO YOUR MENTAL WELL BEING.    

This blog posting is made courtesy of too damn many sources to credit all of them