[Hell Puppy]

I'm not sure it's simple supply and demand. That's part of what it makes it tougher now than in 97, but not all of it.

First off, there is ALWAYS a demand for porn, always has been. And for any new media that comes along, one of the first things that finds a way to exploit it is porn. Porn sold VCRs, porn sold dial up BBSs, and yes porn sells the web.

But supply has become more saturated. There's a lot more of it now than there was in 1997, and alot of it is available for free.

However, that's only part of the challenge. If you now have something that is unique that no one has seen before and will sell well, you've gotta have some money and some ingenuity to bring it to market effectively.

In 1997, there were many free sources of traffic to be exploited. They were essentially strip mined, and yes many people pissed in the well. The result now is the flow of newbies has slowed, and the veteran surfers have become more savvy and cautious. The same is true of the traffic sources such as the SE's.

All that said, there are people who enter this business and make good money every year. However, it is definitely tougher and for every one that makes it there's a 100 who never figure out how to make enough money to do much more than pay the hosting bill.