[TheEnforcer]

Originally Posted by Hell Puppy

Webdaddy I agree with. He still leads the way in terms of the whole concept of domains as real estate and marketing the value of the domain as opposed to what is on top of it.

Now when you talk about Andy Dunn and some of the old school guys, if we were talking history of adult, I agree with them. But I think we're talking who are the 50 most influential TODAY. Is Andy even around? I haven't seen anything out of the guy in probably 4-5 years at least.

The Bottos, JoeE, etc, again sure, back in the day. But if anything, I think they're coasting today. I'm not sure JoeE even has a program up.

As for big programs, that's a different question that is part of the same question.

Let me elaborate...

I would say the top 5, perhaps the top 10 sponsor programs , or rather their owners, would be among the most influential. Some innovate, some do not. BUT, if any one of the 5 (or 10 maybe) were to go under and quit, the ripple would be felt throughout the industry. All of those programs have not only the affiliate payroll, but payroll for several employees, and any cross sells they have lend to the overall profitbility of other programs in the top 10.

Used to be, any one of us could rattle off the top 5 and there'd be very little debate about who they are. There might be SOME debate on the ranking within the 5, but we knew who they were. Now, not so much, I dont think it's as clear cut.

I agree if it's only looking at "today" then the Bottos, Andy Dunn and JoeE wouldn't qualify but i was thinking more along the lines of all time rather than the here and now.

I also agree that it's much less clear about who are the top programs today than it was years ago.