In my 50 years the business has done a 360 turn and then gone around again.
The consumer, once hooked, is addicted to it. In 1966 they would travel many miles to visit a porn shop or jerk off to lingerie catalogue. Production, distribution and publishing were tough, 25 years ago production, distribution and publishing were still hard and supply limited. The earnings were astronomical.
20 years the Internet became user-friendly for porn. Slow and people selling discs mail order were still able to make a living. The biggest problem was content. Either people couldn't find it or couldn't afford it. Earnings weren't that great.
12 years ago opening a site or pushing traffic was the easiest part of the business and there were 10,000s of people working online from weekend hobbyists to full-timers. Earnings were that great.
Now opening a site and pushing traffic is dead easy. The problem is very few can make a living at it anymore. There's no new traffic that will pay, no new people able to get a foothold and experienced people dropping out. Earnings are abysmal and if one takes Dating out of the "Porn business" there would be far fewer people.
The saddest part is there have never been so many porn consumers.
Debate the numbers but the principle is right.
We live in an age where giving stuff away for free is profitable. Just not very profitable for porn. If the Nike, Coco-Cola, Calvin Klien, Ford level of companies start advertising on porn sites, the income will soar again.