What is Digg?60 Comments
- HobbesDoo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+38And I bet their employees all use MC and Visa then. :-)
- Cymrubeats, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23It's weird, porn is one of the most profitable 'services' there is, yet they do nothing about piracy etc. It makes you think...
- redneckblues, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Yeah, the torrent sites dont accept American Express either.
- hammerattack, on 10/12/2007, -1/+15It's also attractive to a high risk customer base. People spend billions on online porn each year. The biggest consumer of online porn tends to be 18-30 white males with limited education and incomes less than $35k/yr. The same demographic which also has the worst credit. People who can't pay their bills don't make money for Amex.
- quellish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7AMEX dropped adult sites closer to 99, but hey whatever.
When AMEX was accepted, it was approximately 10-15% of the transaction volume. Compared to other cards AMEX users had a lower chargeback and fraud rate, but nonetheless AMEX decided the risk was not worth it.
The fraud rate wasn't as high as some people think - while it was higher than most straight ecommerce sites, it wasn't significantly higher. Chargebacks, however, were the big problem. And a lot of that, we found, was from husbands who charged multiple adult sites without the spouse's knowledge, and rather than calling and cancelling via the site, called the card company. Instant chargeback! At the time the CC companies were making a KILLING on chargebacks. The chargeback itself, fines associated, etc. generated large sums of money for them. - Egoist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8There's a tremendous amount of fraud in the porn industry. A lot of chargebacks from stolen cards, etc. I doubt it has anything to do with an objection to porn as much as it's an objection to the high number of fraudulant transactions associated with those types of sites.
- MoonKing, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Damn, that's the only credit card my mommy will let me borrow.
- Sukino, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8I expect some good laughs.
- boredzo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8Apparently 81 people (so far) care.
- gamerzworld, on 10/27/2007, -9/+13Kevin digged this..... What have you been up to kevin..... :)
- televisible, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5AE corporation service charge is more expensive than Master and Visa, however it is the least popular credit card in term of ownership. Porn is one of the most profitable business there for many reasons, one of them is they do not use AE.
- MariusVW, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4MOST people don't accept AMEX... I've never seen anyone who does not accept Mastercard or VISA.
- strangeguitar, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I can't imagine that budget for a porn is even close to that of a theatrically released movie. The profit margins must be incredibly high. In that way, it makes sense that they have a lot less to lose to piracy than the mainstream film industry. I would imagine, though, that if the adult film industry started to see piracy as a threat to their bottom line, they would most definitely fight back.
- volcompimp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I tried it once... Very over rated experience.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Um so what? Lots of credit cards won't handle "Gaming" sites either. Porn is a sleazy, shady industry as much as it is profitable. A good part of these websites are Russian/Israeli mafia organized that run credit card scams. Don't blame the companies for not wanting to deal with all their stupid customers that signed up "for free" when they opened the spam in their email box and then got hit with tons of extra fees.
- twollamalove, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The celebrity of Kevin Rose is probably the worst part about Digg. There aren't kings in a democracy.
- ThinkBox, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7Digged??? --->dugg?
- WolfwoodX, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3stalker....
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Um, this is a story about AMEX and porn. You're giving us details about your whack-off history. Are you lonely or something? Too much info, man.
- ihate2regist, on 10/12/2007, -5/+7"Don't leave home without it"
- dimplemonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2but beer, liquor, cigarettes and noodie mags are fine, right? Phew!
- anonynous2_, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"People who can't pay their bills don't make money for Amex."
Sure they do!
AMEX gets paid per purchase by the merchant. The merchant, in turn, gets paid by the card issuer (a third party, usually a bank). It's the issuer who takes a hit if the card holder doesn't pay their bill, not AMEX. AMEX gets paid either way. - hammerattack, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5It's not that we're 'afraid'. We have a certain sense of dignity, and tend to not appreciate our sexuality being exploited for commercial reasons. You might call it prudish, but then the alternative could be considered whorish.
Comparing sex, guns, and drugs is like comparing apples to oranges to eggs. Sure, they're all part of a healthy natural breakfast, but... - uncleWalrus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Two things: first, it is grossly incorrect to say "most" people don't take Amex. I've had Amex cards for about 8 years, and it's about 1 in 20 places that doesn't take it, at the most. I almost never encounter that, and I use it as my primary card for everything.
Second, the point about carrying a balance: standard Amex cards don't have the option of carrying a balance and paying interest. Your balance is due in full at the end of each month. However, some newer cards, such as all the Amex Blue cards, are the same as everyone else's and you can carry a balance on them. - andreo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1If you read the article the main reason that Amex is not supporting porn sites any longer is because of people saying "uh, I didn't go to that site". Which cost Amex money. One of the reasons that people are no longer going to the site is because of spouses asking what the heck the charge is on the credit card bill. Instead of *telling the truth* they lie. Which in the end has been costing Amex cash and so Amex will not have anyone that runs a porn site as a vendor.
Perhaps I should have just stuck with a reply along the lines of: "oh nos my pr0n" for your enjoyment.
Trust me, if I was looking for companionship I wouldn't come to Digg to find it. - Egoist, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2How is that different than Visa/MC? If I pay my balance off at the end of the month, there is no fee.
- KVargs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah, and amex doesn't allow you to do online gambling sites either
- armyturtle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Maybe they're owned by Mormons.
- Killer_k, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I just find this story funny i guess i am alone here
- darkclarity, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Porn is pretty much like gambling for payment processors, the industry suffers from a lot of transaction fraud and there's a load of ethical problems. Outside of the US, American Express is no where near as accepted as its competitors, perhaps being more ethical is a long term attempt to differentiate themselves from competitors.
- Arthere, on 10/13/2008, -0/+1At least Amex has that going for them. http://www.creditcardassociate.com/american_expres ...
- Werdock, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Look at it as an industry analisys.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1This is olllllddd news... even the description says the article is from 2000. Reported as old.
- h00ligan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@ hammerattack - did you also know that 90% of statistics are made up? If you are going to blanket a statement like that about the demographic for porn, at least back it up with a reasonable link. Otherwise everyone must assume you have no clue.
- hordak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Wow. I wonder if AMEX will backtrack on this when they realize how much cash their going to miss out on.
- JakeMcMahon, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3Damn, but, who pays for internet porn?
- YourTechSupport, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3True dat. We need a digg site for porn. Much like Foobies, but more like fusker. We can call it fugg or something
- KamikazeeDriver, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2"No porn site accepts AMEX"
Who the ***** cares? How many AMEX card holders don't also have a VISA or MC? really? - brundlefly76, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The feeling is mutual - web merchants dont want to handle Amex transactions becuase the transaction fees are ridiculously higher then V/MC - very painful on a small recurring monthly transaction! Most AMEX users have a V/MC anyway to deal with this problem.
FYI it is nearly impossible to get a *new* 'V/MC Adult Merchant Account' in the United States in the past few years, and even more difficult to get one with a decent rate - plus V/MC now has strict content and security standards which are audited regularly - you break a rule, you get HUGE fines - thousands. Overseas merchant banks are even worse.
The reason is that adult CC merchants have the highest incidence of chargeback and fraud of all merchants, and most go under within 18 months. The idea of web porn as easy money has always been a commonly held misconception. - amexuser, on 08/16/2009, -0/+0There are 3 porn sites that accept amex card. Here you can check them: www.giftcardporn.com
- gamerzworld, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1^^^^
Jugg[dot]com :) - Thundercat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1@Cymrubeats
That's simply because Pixar's Cars isn't nearly as addictive as pornography. - ScottTFrazer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Announcer: So if you're planning on a night at home rubbing one out to Seventeen.com, bring the Jergen's lotion, and bring your Visa. Cause the girls there are hot, but they don't take... American Express.
- maram500, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1...And pornography just took a hit in the gut. Wait a sec: people use credit cards to pay for smut? IF (and I can't stress "if" enough) I actually wanted pornography that badly, I certainly would rather put on my trench coat and wide-brim fedora, walk to the XXX store and pay CASH for my pornography, rather than having my name associated with the stuff. I'm betting that's what AMEX emplyees do, anyway. Use CASH, people, and get some goddamned sense: paying by credit card over the Internet is NOT a good idea.
- barry1245, on 02/16/2009, -0/+0There are some p9rn site that accept Amex.
Here is a short list: http://www.amexporn.com/ - maram500, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht are the Gods of Digg. Thus, the previous comment about monarchs is irrelevant.
- bennyboy371, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5They don't? Wow... thank god I don't have American Express. Also, thank god I don't pay for porn.
I'd find it interesting if they sued for piracy though... but we all know the porn industry is one of the few that isn't stupid. They give people what they want, no more and no less. If they did sue, they'd probably try to get a years subscription fees out of you or something. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Well, you know, "everywhere you want to be."
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