It's not prostitution
Customers can pay anywhere between $0.99 or $40.00 per view to watch models perform naked shows and are often enticed into private chats by first being allowed a free view of the model's online webcam video. In "free chat" the user can usually chat for a limited amount of time. During this short free session, the model's will attempt to convince prospective clients to enter premium or private chat.
Cam girls don't sell sex, they merely perform shows which are more akin to acting than sex itself..
To group or not to group
Adult videochat websites (or webcam chat websites as they are otherwise known) provide live webcam shows in two main categories, group shows and one to one shows using video streaming technology. These websites often cater for users preferences by providing content in genres such as girls, gay cams, fetish, lesbians and couples, Transgendered among others.
The videochat companies often set up studios where the models can perform with either small rooms or booths with a video camera or webcam, a computer and a microphone where they can perform their shows with at least some level of privacy or they provide a connection to their websites for models who wish to work from home. Many models prefer to be employed and work from a studio. One of the main reasons for this is that they can work in private away from any family members.
So you wanna be a webcam model, eh?
Some videochat studios such as Vixenstudio and Studio9 who employ models to work in their own premises have separate websites where potential models can apply to become a videochat model. The most reputable studios will explain every detail of the working conditions, the legality and what each model can expect it terms of profits. Models are asked to enter their personal details and submit evidence of their age, usually by uploading a photograph of themselves and their driving license or other government approved identification.
Other videochat studios are simply looking for models who wish to work from home. The positions offered by these studios are very similar in terms of the information that they require from applicants but they are also required to give details of their broadband connection, computer hardware and the quality of their webcam.
Where do they come from?
A huge number of models that do work from home as a videochat model come from poorer countries such as Hungary, Romania, Ukraine and the Philippines where the average weekly wage is extremely low and is viewed as a better alternative to entering the full blown sex industry which blooms in these countries.
"Call girls"?
The videochat market is slowly but surely moving mobile. This is opening the way for videochat companies to capture a new area of the adult market. The advent of more sophisticated 3G mobile handsets such as Apple's iPhone and the new Android based cellphones means that phone to cam technology is now possible.
The recent discovery of a [1] next generation iPhone which was found in a bar in Redwood City near Apple's headquarters in Cupertino has fueled speculation that the new iPhone with front facing camera will soon be released which will give users the ability to use the handset for videochat calls. An Android video chat phone has still to be released. The chat app exists but the [2] Vphone(or V1) handset will not be showing off its video chat ability until the operating system is upgraded from 1.6 to 2.0.
Chat with her from... anywhere!
Video chat is becoming increasingly more popular and companies are becoming ever more aware of this fact. Google recently added a free voice and video chat feature to [3] Gmail which gives subscribers the ability to speak to friends on a video screen and simultaneously instant message them in a Google chat box.
Mobile videochat websites mean that the user doesn't need to be in front of a computer to participate, and as privacy when viewing is obviously a concern to most consumers of adult material, the ability to watch live videochat from almost anywhere is a boon.
The mobile web market is growing at an expeditious rate and is set to increase exponentially making the way we communicate and collect data more efficient than was ever previously thought possible.
It's big money
The global revenues from adult videochat services are expected to increase dramatically over the next five years or so, reaching at least $1.5bn by 2012.
While the take-up levels of these mobile adult services are relatively low, the typical monthly spend in this unique market is generally ten to twenty times greater than other adult related services.
Videochat studios already set out are showing extraordinary degrees of customer retention and usage, with the customers returning on a regular basis to video chat with the same model and cultivating a relationship with him or her.
With 3G use expecting to go beyond 35% in many existing markets by the end of 2010, there is a serious opportunity for companies to produce and monetise live videochat sites. Adult videochat is set to make up about 33% of all mobile adult service profits by 2012.
Europe will continue to have the largest share of the mobile adult services market with profits increasing from $128m in 2010 to $453m by the year 2012.
I am the law!
There are no international laws governing adult video chat and each individual country views this differently. In general, if the images are legal in the country from where they are being provided, then the provider is not in violation of any laws, even if the content can be accessed in other countries where the content is indeed illegal.
