Comments on: Is Scribd a Porn Document Network?

By: Rob

Rob — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 16:40:20 +0000

Here is a newsflash….

Kama Sutra is not porn. Yes, if there is graphic nudity or obscene language with swear words then it’s a problem. But, couples trying to enhance their sex life is not porn.

Comments like yours is why the Declaration of Independence is unraveling fiber by fiber.

By: Paul Graham

Paul Graham — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

You offer no evidence that Scribd has deliberately used porn as a traffic-increasing method– that, for example, the proportion of porn in Scribd is any higher than in Google’s index.

However, you did in this article, didn’t you?

By: Dipankar

Dipankar — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I have been hearing a lot about the content on scribd, and how they are getting traffic because of pornographic material.

From what it looks like, there has been no attempt at stopping “that kind” of content. So maybe it is a genuine strategy which is being used to draw in more traffic, i guess. It is a trade-off (wrt NSFW content, children, family) but one must see that the numbers suppport what they have done(nearly exponential traffic growth.

By: Kevin Fox

Kevin Fox — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Some good end of the day reading Allen… I would be worried if I was a parent and had moderately technical children… though if I did I would imagine there are even easier ways for them to access pron (Google image search?).

+1 for not feeling comfortable about sending business/family/friends to the site…

By: Anand

Anand — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Isn’t this the problem with any of the web 2.0 User Generated Content websites. Youtube has a good number of p0rn videos too, which are flagged and removed. So is it with Flickr.

However, Scribd being a text based website, I do agree that it might list high on search engines. And porn is one of the top search terms on the search engines as well, and when those users visit scribd through related listings, the porn related searches increase too.

Bottomline is that it is more of a web 2.0 problem than Scribd’s..

By: John Ren

John Ren — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Allen, you hit the nail on the head. Paul Graham *knows* quite well what is going on with Scribd. He is just being cynical in letting the Scribd folks exploit the proven traffic building powers of porn. Perhaps they will clean it up once they get it to decent traction, so they can become respectable, in anticipation of Paul’s favored “exit”, namely an acquisition.

When you allow unlimited uploads, no questions asked (no sign up, nothing), what else do you expect? It is an invitation to both copyright violation and porn. Just check *how many* of the documents will fall in either category, or both at the same time. It is difficult to imagine that these two categories contribute to only a small portion of their traffic (as Paul would like to imply).

By: centernetworks

centernetworks — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Paul - no where in the article do I note that Scribd has deliberately allowed porn as a traffic builder. I am just noting the facts about where it appears the traffic is coming from. And Google indexing porn is different than a service which houses the porn, right?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Then you haven’t even tried to search Playboy. I can see how they can get into some copy right issues…

By: centernetworks

centernetworks — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

there is a difference btw "deliberately allowed" and it just happened – I like the scribd service and think it could be a winner – they probably need to figure out this adult content issue – probably look into a service such as keibi – or the one someone pointed out on y combinator news – using mturk to find the adult content.

And perhaps they should look at spinning off a new site just for the adult content?

By: jsnx

jsnx — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

> no where in the article do I note that Scribd has deliberately
> allowed porn as a traffic builder.

You come awfully close:
“Are these traffic-increasing methods acceptable for a VC
backed company to drive growth via porn?”