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MindGeek
Company typePrivately held
IndustryAdult industry
Information Technology
Founded2007 (2007)[1]
Headquarters
Luxembourg City
,
Luxembourg
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsPornographic films
Services
Number of employees
1000+[2]
Websitemindgeek.com

MindGeek is a global IT company active in content delivery, streaming media and online advertising,[3] the company is a privately held conglomerate which is headquartered in Luxembourg City with offices in Dublin, Hamburg, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Montreal and Nicosia.[2] Its operations are primarily related to Internet pornography, but also include other online properties such as the comedy video website videobash.com and celebrity gossip site celebs.com.[4] MindGeek was previously known as Manwin, which was founded by the German computer programmer and businessman Fabian Thylmann.[5] In 2013, Fabian Thylmann who was managing partner of Manwin[6] sold his stake in the company to the senior management team,[7] and shortly after that the company name was changed to Mindgeek.[8]

Adult industry

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In 2013, the adult industry news website XBIZ described MindGeek as the world's largest operator of adult entertainment,[7][9] and a spokesperson from Manwin, who spoke to the Irish Independent newspaper in 2013 stated that they are "one of the top five bandwidth consumption companies in the world".[10] The Internet pornography review site TheBestPorn.com lists 164 pornographic membership sites that are owned or represented by MindGeek.[11]

Pornhub Network

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The "Pornhub NETWORK", is a network of web 2.0 websites accessible through Mindgeek's PornMD search engine.[12] Mindgeek either own or operate all of the websites in the Pornhub NETWORK, which include ExtremeTube,[13] GayTube,[14] KeezMovies,[15] Peeperz,[15] PornIQ (launched by Pornhub),[16] PornMD,[17] Pornhub,[13] RedTube,[13] SpankWire,[13] Tube8,[13] XTube,[18] and YouPorn.[13]

According to TrafficEstimate.com, Redtube.com generates over 90 million visits per month,[19] and YouPorn.com generates almost 80 million visits per month[20] (based on the data for 30 days up to mid November 2014. Data for Pornhub.com was not available). YouPorn claim that their partner program has 400 content providers who participate,[21] and Pornhub.com scores at Alexa Global Rank 72 (as of 19 December 2014).[22]

Global Alexa Ranks

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Domain Alexa rank (20 Dec 2014)[23] Category
pornhub.com 72 Pornhub Network
redtube.com 103 Pornhub Network
youporn.com 124 Pornhub Network
tube8.com 261 Pornhub Network
spankwire.com 912 Pornhub Network
keezmovies.com 1144 Pornhub Network
xtube.com[24] 1148 Pornhub Network
brazzers.com 1605 Pornographic Movie Studio
pornmd.com 1626 Pornhub Network
extremetube.com 2149 Pornhub Network
realitykings.com 2786 Pornographic Movie Studio
digitalplayground.com 5109 Pornographic Movie Studio
gaytube.com 5365 Pornhub Network
mofos.com 7845 Amateur Pornography
men.com 9593 Pornographic Movie Studio
twistys.com 10086 Pornographic Movie Studio
mydirtyhobby.com 10618 Amateur Pornography
babes.com 14095 Pornographic Movie Studio
sextube.com 18063 Amateur Pornography
webcams.com 39265 Amateur Pornography
peeperz.com 67466 Pornhub Network
porniq.com 72315 Pornhub Network

Amateur Pornography

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Mindgeek own the amateur pornographic video sharing websites Mofos,[17] MyDirtyHobby,[17] Sextube,[14] and Webcams.[17]

Pornographic Movie Studios

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MindGeek own the pornographic movie studios Babes.com[25] Brazzers, Digital Playground, Reality Kings, Twistys,[26] and Men.com.[27][28] Mindgeek also manage the websites of Wicked Pictures, and oversee Playboy's online and television operations,[6] and they established 3DXSTAR in partnership with Funky Monkey Productions.[29]

Pornography for Mobile Devices

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MindGeek is one of the leaders in mobile-phone pornography in North America, handling millions of visits each day,[30][31] they were awarded the "Future Mobile Award for Mobile Adult Services" by Juniper Research in 2012.[32][33][34]

Criticism

[edit]

It has been reported that MindGeek's dominance in online pornography may have negative results because of the monopolistic powers they have from owning both production and distribution avenues.[35]

History

[edit]

MindGeek was known as Manwin until a change of name in October 2013,[8] shortly after Fabian Thylmann, managing partner of Manwin[6] sold his stake to the senior management of the company, which was also completed in October 2013.[7]

In the late 1990s Fabian created Nats (Next-generation affiliate tracking software) which was used for marketing pornography across different websites.[36] In 2006, Fabian sold his shares in the company that controlled NATS and used the proceeds to purchase the Privat Amateure website.[37]

Between 2006 and 2010, Fabian bought three more web sites; MyDirtyHobby, Webcams and Xtube.[4] The domain name manwin.com was first registered in August 2007.[38]

In March 2010, Fabian bought the company Mansef which owned the web sites Brazzers, MOFOS and Pornhub,[37] and changed the name of the company to Manwin.[4]

Timeline of Acquisitions, Growth and Partnerships

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September 2010
Manwin acquired EuroRevenue, which owned various niche pornography sites.[39]
December 2010
Manwin entered into a partnership with Wicked Pictures to manage Wicked Pictures' paysites.[40]
May 2011
Manwin acquired the popular pornographic video sharing website YouPorn.[41]
June 2011
Manwin bought all adult related assets of Carsed Marketing Incorporated, including Twistys, Twistys Cash Affiliate Program, GayTube, SexTube and TrannyTube.[14]
June 2011
Manwin created 3DXSTAR in a partnership with Funky Monkey Productions.[29]
November 2011
Manwin became an operating partner of Playboy, managing the brand's online and entertainment business Playboy Plus Entertainment, which operates a number of television channels and online services based in the UK and Benelux.[42]
January 2012
Manwin signed a deal to acquire the assets of the American pornographic movie studio Digital Playground.[43]
April 2012
Manwin and Miami-based RK Netmedia Inc. filed a merger notification jointly authorized by Manwin and Reality Kings with the Austrian Federal Competition Authority.[44] In September 2012, Manwin completed the acquisition.[45] Company documents show that following the deal in the autumn, RK Holdings gave a Dublin company, Manwin Content RK, the right to use thousands of its pornography movies.[46]
June 2012
Manwin Launched Babes.com for its "glamcore" network.[25]
July 2013
Manwin filed a merger notification to acquire RedTube.com.[47] During the summer of 2013, Manwin / Mindgeek acquired all of RedTube properties from Hong Kong-based Bright Imperial Ltd. for an undisclosed sum.[48] The domain name RedTube8.xxx was also transferred to MindGeek in December 2013 in a trademark dispute.[48]
December 2014
MindGeek announced they had signed a deal to manage the online assets of Really Useful Ltd., some of which include the websites BDSM.xxx, Casting.xxx, Czech.xxx, DaneJones.com, FakeAgent.com, FakeTaxi.com, Lesbea.com, MassageRooms.com, Mature.xxx, Mom.xxx, Orgasms.xxx, PublicAgent.com, PublicSex.xxx, Teen.xxx, and Tubes.xxx.[49]
[edit]

Manwin filed an antitrust lawsuit in California in November 2011 against ICANN and ICM Registry over the introduction of the .xxx TLD.[50] Amongst their allegations, Manwin claimed that in introducing the new suffix, ICANN and ICM registry had exploited the market by making domain registrations expensive with no price caps in place, and created a need for defensive domain registrations with no provision for companies to block typos of their trademarks. Manwin announced that it would not allow its content to be used on any sites with the suffix, with Fabian Thylmann, managing partner of Manwin saying: "We oppose the .XXX domain and all it stands for. It is my opinion that .XXX domain is an anticompetitive business practice that works a disservice to all companies that do business on the Internet."[51]

In May 2013 Manwin agreed to settle the antitrust lawsuit it brought against ICM Registry over the cost of .xxx web domain names. The settlement will result in discounted wholesale prices of $7.85 a year for .xxx names during May 2013, and similar offers the future.[52] ICM Registry is owned by British former fax-machine mogul Stuart Lawley. The settlement provides that ICM will not pay any money directly to MindGeek.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Kuepper, Michelle (21 October 2013). "German entrepreneur Fabian Thylmann exits online porn empire". VENTURE VILLAGE. Archived from the original on 22 July 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  2. ^ a b "MindGeek (homepage)". mindgeek.com. MindGeek. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  3. ^ "OUR SERVICES". mindgeek.com. MindGeek. Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Wallace, Benjamin (30 January 2011). "The Geek-Kings of Smut". New York Magazine. p. 5. Archived from the original on 10 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  5. ^ Buse, Uwe (20 December 2012). "Harnessing the Internet: The German Porn King's Revolutionary Model Page 1". SPIEGEL ONLINE. p. 1. Archived from the original on 19 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b c Morris, Chris (18 January 2012). "Meet the New King of Porn". CNBC. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014. Cite error: The named reference "Meet the New King of Porn" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c Pardon, Rhett (18 October 2013). "Fabian Thylmann Sells Stake in Manwin to Company Management". XBIZ.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2014. Cite error: The named reference "Fabian Thylmann Sells Stake in Manwin to Company Management" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  8. ^ a b "Manwin Becomes MindGeek". AVN. 28 October 2013. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  9. ^ Pardon, Rhett (28 October 2013). "Manwin Changes Name to MindGeek". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Porn company Manwin latest Internet giant to open an office in Dublin". IrishCentral. 27 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  11. ^ "Company: MindGeek". TheBestPorn.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  12. ^ "PornMD: A Search Engine for ALL of the World's Best Porn Sites". PornMD. Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Pardon, Rhett (21 April 2014). "MindGeek Settles Cybersquatting Suits". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  14. ^ a b c "Manwin Acquires Twistys and Sister Sites". AVN. 2 June 2011. Archived from the original on 20 August 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  15. ^ a b Pardon, Rhett (8 March 2011). "'Bachelor' Contestant Rozlyn Papa's Suit Is OKd". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  16. ^ Holmes, David (9 October 2013). "What media companies can learn from Pornhub and its new PornIQ service". PandoDaily. Archived from the original on 18 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  17. ^ a b c d "Platinum Sponsors". ASACP. Archived from the original on 17 September 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  18. ^ Pardon, Rhett (7 August 2013). "Manwin Appeals Trademark Examiner's Decision Over XTube". Archived from the original on 26 August 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  19. ^ "redtube.com Website Traffic and Information". TrafficEstimate.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  20. ^ "youporn.com Website Traffic and Information". TrafficEstimate.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  21. ^ "Pornhub & YouPorn Owner Funds Fight Against Cyberlockers". TorrentFreak. 23 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  22. ^ "pornhub.com Site Overview". Alexa. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  23. ^ "Bulk Alexa rank checker (results saved to Imgur)". BulkSeoTools.com Bulk Alexa Rank Checker. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  24. ^ "xtube.com Site Info". Alexa Internet. Retrieved 2014-12-20.
  25. ^ a b Pardon, Rhett (23 June 2012). "Manwin Launches 'Glamcore' Site Babes.com". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 30 June 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  26. ^ "Why Are Porn Perfomers Scared to Talk About Internet Piracy?". TorrentFreak. 13 April 2014. Archived from the original on 11 November 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  27. ^ Clark-Flory, Tracy (8 September 2012). "Must porn stars get tested?". Salon.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  28. ^ Ayala, Nelson (23 October 2012). "Rocco Reed Makes Bottoming Debut for Men.com". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 27 October 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  29. ^ a b Kernes, Mark (23 June 2011). "You Know You Want It: 3D Porn from Funky Monkey and Manwin". AVN. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  30. ^ Czikk, Joseph (4 July 2014). "Life of a Porn 'Star': How This Montrealer Helped Build Adult Mobile, Part One". BetaKit. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  31. ^ Czikk, Joseph (9 July 2014). "Life of a Porn 'Star': How This Montrealer Helped Build Adult Mobile, Part Two". BetaKit. Archived from the original on 6 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  32. ^ "Future Mobile Award for Mobile Adult Services 2012". Juniper Research. Archived from the original on 9 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  33. ^ Cett, Hans (22 June 2012). "Velti wins major gong for mobile advertising". GoMo News. Archived from the original on 9 July 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  34. ^ Rothery, Grainne (18 June 2012). "Paddy Power recognised by Juniper for mobile gambling product range". Business & Leadership. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  35. ^ Auerbach, David (23 October 2014). "Vampire Porn". Slate. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  36. ^ Reynolds, Emma (20 December 2012). "'King of Porn' arrested on charges of avoiding paying tax on the £60million profits from his online sex empire". Daily Mail Online. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  37. ^ a b Buse, Uwe (20 December 2012). "Harnessing the Internet: The German Porn King's Revolutionary Model". Spiegel Online International. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  38. ^ "manwin.com registry whois". Whois. 19 December 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  39. ^ Pardon, Rhett (13 September 2010). "Manwin Takes Over EuroRevenue". XBIZ. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  40. ^ "Manwin to Manage Wicked Pictures' Online Properties". AVN. 28 December 2010. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  41. ^ "Manwin Acquires YouPorn.com". AVN. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  42. ^ Briel, Robert (31 October 2011). "Manwin takes over Playboy TV operations". Broadband TV News. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  43. ^ Pardon, Rhett (17 January 2012). "Manwin Acquires Digital Playground". XBIZ.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  44. ^ Pardon, Rhett (20 April 2012). "Manwin, RK Netmedia File Plan to Merge". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  45. ^ Sanford, John (10 September 2012). "Manwin Acquires Reality Kings". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 18 May 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  46. ^ "Today in the press; INTERNET PORN PRODUCER USES DUBLIN AS BASE". RTÉ News. 1 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  47. ^ "Manwin Files Merger Notification to Acquire RedTube.com". AVN. 31 July 2013. Archived from the original on 9 October 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  48. ^ a b Pardon, Rhett (6 December 2013). "RedTube8.xxx Ordered Transferred to MindGeek". XBIZ Newswire. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  49. ^ Pardon, Rhett (5 December 2014). "MindGeek to Manage Really Useful Ltd.'s Online Assets". XBIZ.com. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
  50. ^ Murphy, Kevin (16 November 2011). "YouPorn sues ICANN and ICM over .xxx". DomainIncite. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  51. ^ Shayon, Sheila (7 December 2011). "As .XXX Goes Live, ICANN Ushers in Virtual Red-Light District". brandchannel. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  52. ^ "Manwin, ICM Registry Settle Antitrust Lawsuit". AVN. 1 May 2013. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
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