Most of us living in the city of Montréal are well aware that it houses an incredibly robust technology sector, with many international firms choosing to base their regional operations in the city. On top of this, there is an ever-growing list of start-ups being founded in the city on a daily basis.
However, many may not recognize MindGeek, one of the lesser-known tech giants of Montréal. A Montréal-founded pornography conglomerate now based in Luxembourg, MindGeek is a behemoth in the billion-dollar pornography industry. While the name may be unknown, the properties owned by the company are expansive and vertically integrated, with companies such as PornHub, Brazzers, and RedTube under their control. MindGeek’s reach is global, with its employees spread across offices in the US, Cyprus, Romania, Canada, and the UK.
At first glance, it is difficult to ascertain what exactly MindGeek does. On their website, they say that their mission is “to deliver a world-class portfolio of entertainment experiences and IT solutions to a global customer base.” They don’t mention that the “entertainment experiences” they offer are of the pornographic variety.
With their ever-growing tech opportunities, MindGeek has even branched out into virtual reality, and pushes the envelope in terms of development of immersive content.
The true challenges of operating the MindGeek websites, which receive a total traffic exceeding 115 million users daily, are at their core issues of technological logistics. The delivery of the content is unimportant to the challenges of the firm’s operations. Compared to YouTube, one of the most well-known content distribution platforms, which has a daily viewership of 30 million users, it is obvious that MindGeek is a powerhouse of online content distribution. With their ever-growing tech opportunities, MindGeek has even branched out into virtual reality, and pushes the envelope in terms of development of immersive content.
Not only are they further developing content delivery methods and experience types, MindGeek also has access to one of the largest pools of user data. Through tracking of user movements and browsing, MindGeek tailors their plethora of content to the interest of the user, further boosting views and revenue. Due to their vertical integration of distribution and production, as well as their technological prowess, they deliver tailor-made content more effectively than other online distributors.
The relatively low costs of video production in the pornography industry make it much easier for MindGeek to quickly produce content that their users seek. PornHub, for example, which accounts for approximately 100 million of the 115 million daily MindGeek website users, has one of the most transparent data analysis operations of any content delivery company. The site provides frequent updates on recent search trends, user behaviour, and more.
Despite the taboo surrounding discussion of erotic matter, MindGeek has become one of the most powerful players in the online content delivery field.
Despite the taboo surrounding discussion of erotic matter, MindGeek has become one of the most powerful players in the online content delivery field, and is a strong competitor in the field of technology within Montréal. Their abilities in technological growth, traffic support, and data analytics are evidence that while we may not talk about them often, perhaps we should.
