If you haven’t done so already, please be sure to congratulate YNOT Bob on his promotion here at YNOTMASTERS to company President. On board with YNOT since early 2000, Bob will be retaining his responsibilities as VP of Webmaster Sales, selling all of the advertising spots on YNOT, in addition to his new responsibilities as President.Hail To The Chief!

If you haven’t done so already, please be sure to congratulate YNOT Bob on his promotion here at YNOTMASTERS to company President. On board with YNOT since early 2000, Bob will be retaining his responsibilities as VP of Webmaster Sales, selling all of the advertising spots on YNOT, in addition to his new responsibilities as President. Outgoing President Greg “Otto” Geelan will remain with YNOTMASTERS as Legal Counsel, Management Consultant, YNOT NEWS Editor and Legal Board Moderator, but has also branched off into other endeavors. All of us here fully support these recent changes, and YNOT will continue to be THE premier adult Webmaster resource! The official press release can be viewed here.

The Devil Carries a Notepad

I have always had a pretty healthy respect for the mainstream media. Especially since my previous employment and background in public relations involved regularly pitching stories to the press and hyping up the clients I represented to reporters in top market (i.e. New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.) newspapers, TV shows, magazines, radio shows, etc. When I dove headfirst into the adult Internet over three years ago, I had these visions of wooing all the mainstream reporters I had befriended over the years with hopes that the gap between the adult world and the mainstream – including the same technologies employed by both – would be bridged. Save for a few “porn friendly” reporters and editors, it is still a chore figuring out who is safe to talk to, who has ulterior motives, and which industry personnel aren’t press shy or won’t put their feet in their mouths. It’s a tricky game, and hard enough to try to ensure that our words aren’t taken out of context or that we aren’t all lumped into the category of pedophiles, crooks and degenerates.

All of that aside, it certainly doesn’t help much when mainstream reporters seek out the lowest common denominator in our industry for information. All it takes is a reporter with an axe to grind or an editor to impress hitting up some jerk-off “pimp” wannabe or keyboard warrior who has no savvy with the press, and suddenly we all come off looking like idiots. A few less than flattering pieces as of late have not only made our industry look bad (and NO… all press is NOT good press), but has also put certain adult companies above the radar who perhaps didn’t want to be there. Do you think that various people out there who would love nothing more than to crush our industry or are patiently waiting for someone to take a major misstep aren’t regularly surfing adult chat forums? You’d be crazy not to believe it.

Visa Tightens the Noose

Ever since Visa recently announced that they were dropping the acceptable credit card charge back rate from 2.5% to 1% for domestic transactions, several of the industry’s major players have stepped up to the plate and made some pretty big changes. Eprocessor Epoch / Paycom recently stated that they will not process for clients or any registered URL that also processes new joins at iBill, and free trials will no longer be allowed on primary sales. As well, the words “Free”, “No Cost”, “No Charge”, “Gift” and similar wording will not be allowed on any page of any site that has a “Join” link to any Epoch / Paycom form. They also warned that, “Pay Per Sign Up Programs are discouraged as they lead to significantly higher incidences of fraud, which results in higher chargebacks.” Consequently, top affiliate program operators SilverCash and ARS will be lowering their Webmaster payouts, membership fees and ending free trials.

I think it’s just a question of time before several other companies follow these leads. In my opinion, the new Visa regulations may be considered harsh, but considering they have our industry by the proverbial balls, I can see why they are doing it. This will undoubtedly affect everyone in our industry directly or indirectly. Everything has a chain reaction in the adult Internet. According to YNOT’s Legal Counsel Otto, who has been following the Visa issues closely, “Affiliates will continue to be squeezed harder and harder and it will be more difficult for affiliate programs to remain in the business. Sponsors will most likely start relying less upon affiliate traffic and instead will be buying more and more traffic from the search engines.” I am inclined to agree with him. For related thoughts and information, be sure to check out this excellent thread over at the XNations chat boards and read this related article from Cyndalie published last week in YNOT NEWS, as well as this article in AVN.com.

Welcome to My World of Toys

Earlier this week I went to the Adult Novelty Manufacturers Expo (ANME) at the Sheraton Universal City Hotel here in Los Angeles. It was like being an adult in a candy store! With exhibits by several dozen adult toy and novelty distributors, manufacturers and independent sales people and innovators, it was refreshing to see that the adult toy industry is huge, profitable and growing. Wholesale and retail products ranging from the practical to the absurd to the unbelievably original were proudly on display in three separate areas at the hotel. Since many of the companies there have not yet made the foray into the adult Internet (and may never), the opportunities for many of these companies to expand and form partnerships with Webmasters is staggering.

My personal favorite products there? On the technical side is the Cyber Vib which is a vibrating bullet that you simply plug into your computer’s USB port and can be controlled by another person using a remote and brings virtual sex to amazing levels and possibilities. To find out more about this product and several others, visit http://www.laskamaria.com or simply email Laska at laska@laskamaria.com. And on the less technical side, another favorite product of mine is the “Make Your Own Dildo Kit” from http://www.empirelabs.com. That’s right… you can make a dildo in the exact replica of your own johnson… bumps, veins and everything. Both would make excellent gifts! You can count on these products and the people behind them being featured on the YNOT Bob Humpday Lunch Radio Show soon enough. These products ROCK!

Editorial Hiatus?

Many of you have been asking me over the last few months, “Hey Jay, why are you writing fewer and fewer editorials?” I have been cutting back from writing four or five editorials plus the occasional article or two every month down to two or three editorials per month plus seminar coverage for Webmaster shows like Internext and The Phoenix Forum.

To put it simply, staying on top of writing an editorial a week EVERY week is no simple task. Add to that my growing list of responsibilities here at YNOT, including Editor-In-Chief (i.e. soliciting, producing, and building each issue of YNOT NEWS) plus the large number of article submissions we receive and the limited space in each issue, running Webmaster submitted articles first takes priority for me. It is certainly a pleasure to write articles and to receive personal feedback every time, but I do plan to focus my attention on other areas of YNOT, and when time permits, I will still be a regular article contibutor.

But by all means to everyone out there, please keep those fantastic article submissions coming! The free exposure our article writers receive gets better every day as our registered number of members continue to increase at a fast pace. Please check out our specifications and requirements to be a YNOT NEWS contributor.

In Closing

If you are going to be in Hollywood, Florida for Internext please stop by the YNOTMASTERS booth and introduce yourself! YNOT will be sending a big contingent as Bob, Gary, Jim, Steve and I will be holding down the fort at booth #412. Hope to see you there!

Enjoy this issue! – LAJ

Jay “LAJ” Kopita is the Editor-In-Chief for YNOT NEWS, Communications Director for YNOTMASTERS and Chat Board Administrator and can be reached at editor@ynotnews.com.