the future of tgps and link lists (maybe)

[CD Smith]

Originally Posted by bret

the same could be argued for paid submissions.. the submitters would go where it is free.

No, not really. In some cases, yes, but where the site is really huge and it's traffic valuable (Like Shemp's, Doc Bizarro, Elephant list, and dozens of others) submitters are motivated to pay, at least the serious ones are. It also cuts down on cheaters because as we all know cheaters aren't usually into paying money for anything.

With smaller less busy TGP's, yes... having paid submissions probably isn't the way to go, thus some submitters would stick with submitting to them.

Originally Posted by bret

the trust factor is huge with all the scammers out there, and they scams just keep increasing. if the surfer develops a relationship with your site, you earn their trust, and eventually maybe even their dollars.

I don't really see the parallell between submitting webmasters paying a fee and charging the surfer a user fee though, other than the fact that both are fees. Other than that, I wouldn't be surprised if your traffic took a significant drop once the fee was put in place. It's no secret that MOST surfers simply do not want to pay for anything, much less porn. A common signup ratio in this biz is 1 signup in every 500 uniques. Some see 1:200, 1:300, some see as bad as 1:5000 or worse..... I doubt that would magically change just because it is a favorite TGP now charging.

Hey, I could be wrong, but at this point in the discussion I don't think I am.