Adult Sponsors for Sports Site?

[JPX]

I am in the process of launching a niche sports website, and I am wondering what are your professional opinions regarding the use of adult websites as sponsors.

Some adult websites tend to convert well, but I'm afraid we will lose credibility by using them instead of the typical affiliates like Ad Sense, Amazon, etc.

Any opinions on this?

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by JPX

I am in the process of launching a niche sports website, and I am wondering what are your professional opinions regarding the use of adult websites as sponsors.

Some adult websites tend to convert well, but I'm afraid we will lose credibility by using them instead of the typical affiliates like Ad Sense, Amazon, etc.

Any opinions on this?

What exactly is the niche you're going after?

I've been a professional sports handicapper for the past decade plus, so I have some experience in this matter. I assume you're talking about adult sites as in porno sites as opposed to adult dating, etc. I'd strongly recommend against it if you're going after a niche where you hope to have any credibility at all. Just the presence of porno advertising gives your business/site the impression of being a scam.

If you're targeting a niche where there is a viable market and you provide them with good content there are plenty of other ways to bring in revenue. Throwing a bunch of porn ads on your site undermines the "value" of whatever content your providing before anyone reads it.

One reason that porno sites "convert well" from a statistical standpoint is that they're typically offered on websites that target the potential porn consumer in the first place. My guess is that they'd lose a lot of that advantage if you put them on a non-adult oriented (eg: porn oriented) website. Whatever marginal gain in conversion rate would be more than offset IMO by the audience you'd lose, and the credibility that you'd lose with the audience that remained.

I'm not "anti-porn" in theory, and far from a prude but IMO its just a bad business decision.

[dcldnl]

I guess putting adult ads is a risk, people will consider your website not serious!

[Scorpio]

In my experience seeing porn ads on non-porn sites lends them an air of sketchiness and unsafeness. I associate these sites with the kind that will hit me with a million pop-ups or try to install spyware on my computer.

[Mayo]

I am entering adult market and believe me, i DON'T want adult ads on my site. PERIOD

Contradiction?? No... i just see that by selling affiliate goods that have some values for the customers give me a edge.

Someone mentioned before bodybuilding.com, and man they are making dough on dough just on sporting goods (cca. 60MM$US gross annually) that converts if they have 15-20% revenue margin to about 8-10 million dollars of pure profit....

For "adult" sites that sell VOD, "crank that big black c#4k in my a33", etc. it's a looser's game, it's good money to be made there... but it's pure fringe and not mass marketable.

With adult banners you will go only one way: into oblivion, even if you work pretty hard.