Rockit Reports turns 10 years old

Rockit Reports recently surpassed the ten year mark. While I don’t think that anyone owes me any tin it is notable that this site has stayed continuously online and active for a decade.

In fact it has been more than a decade. Rockit Reports went online October 1, 2012. The first post ever published here explained how Chinese massage parlors work. That post remains one of the most popular articles on this website even today. That is either a testament to its quality or a sign that everything since was worse. I would accept either.

So at this point I have been publishing at least one report a week for more than 10 years. In some years I was published two or more reviews a week. In total there are now more than 800 articles published here. That makes for a significant archive.

The long road to a decade

When I first created this website I thought a few people might come by to read my words. I had no idea how popular the website would be. To date Rockit Reports has been viewed by more than 26 million people. That is 26,000,000. Quite a number even if a site like Facebook sees that every few minutes. I am simply a sole reporter telling those who dare to visit about the commercial sex industry in its various permutations.

When Rockit Reports hit its fifth anniversary I changed the layout of the site. Going with the flow I moved to a more modern layout with a white background. Although I still tend to prefer older style sites with light text on dark backgrounds the fact is I am in the minority. But I wasn’t only catering to taste. I also wanted to make the website faster and more mobile friendly. At some point more people began to view the site on mobile devices than computers.

I also hoped the reboot would boost traffic. In truth it did not. Traffic has always been good at Rockit Reports. Even now thousands of people from around the world visit the site every day. But in terms of raw numbers the site hit its peak in 2015 with an average of 16,000 to 18,000 visitors per day. At one point the site was ranked as one of the 100,000 most popular sites on the internet.

New dogs and old tricks

Early on there were only a few websites covering sex work worldwide in any real detail. Many of the sites that did exist were more travelogue than reporting. I can’t and don’t claim to be the first by any means. But there was a clear and certain rise of competitors starting around 2014.

Many of the bloggers that came along in in the mid-2010’s have since fallen by the wayside. Some disappeared completely. Others changed their tunes or at least the topics they covered. A couple even reappeared as proselytizers. A number of sites went dead or dormant under the impact of the pandemic. Some are still around. Though plagiarizers and article flippers are now more common than original writers.

Supposedly major search engine updates were supposed to deal with that sort of thing. But they obviously didn’t. Some popular sex industry sites have lifted as much as a quarter of their content from other sites. One site takes from WikiSexGuide. Years ago entire sections of my writing appeared on WikiSexGuide. It is quite a content churning circle!

More importantly was the rise of sex industry reporting of some form of another on mainstream media outlets. Some of it was a result of the acceptance of things like porn and sex work. Then there was the social media aspect. A relatively low number of people outside of Japan knew about pink salons in 2012. Today pink salons are listed on Google Maps and come complete with user reviews. There are also brothels on Yelp and red light districts on Trip Advisor.

The case of porn even illustrates the case further. Once relegated to the margins of society porn is now mainstream. For example the interracial porn site blacked.com proudly promotes the fact that is has been featured on sites the New York Post, GQ and even the BBC!

David vs Goliath

As Rockit Reports gained more readership I was either quoted or contacted by more mainstream reporters. First links to my reports on places like the Fuji Building in Hong Kong began popping up in newspaper articles. Then the major American media conglomerate National Geographic even asked me to contribute to a documentary. I simply kept my head down and continued to report.

I never set out on writing at Rockit Reports to strike it big. I know better than that. But I was always glad when readers would stumble across an affiliate link. Way back in 2013 I wrote a thank you post to those who were visiting cam sites through links they found here. Though those affiliate link clicks later took an even bigger hit than the traffic.

At some point major magazines and websites ranging from Gentlemen’s Quarterly to La Weekly began publishing lists of things like the best porno and the best webcam sites. They came complete with affiliate links too. So they were obviously looking to make a buck. Judging by their readership I would imagine they have done exactly that.

As a simple reporter on a budget I cannot expect to compete with major corporations with thousands of employees and the input of millions of users. That is something I did not ever attempt. In the early days I was covering things that were difficult to find out about in the English language. Later I focused more on covering places from my own perspective. I also had the help of a few regular commenters. Some became quite significant contributions.

Thanks for your time

Hundreds or possibly even thousands of people have left comments on this website over the years. In the early 2010’s it was the norm for every website to have an open comment section. Then there was a turn away from the free flowing exchange of ideas. It could be argued that this coincided with a general turn away from democracy in much of the world. Many websites did away with their comment sections. Others locked them behind memberships or even paywalls. I continue to accept comments from readers here. I take no responsibility for what they write. But I am glad to hear from various different voices.

There have been more than 13,500 comments left on the articles I have written. I read them all and did my best to reply.

Some repeat commenters really stand out. People like Jack and Deca have made quite an impact here. People like manfred, max, and Vegas have also made a significant contribution. There are several others too. All are appreciated.

Another fruitful commenter went by the name European Guy. He is also the only person other than me to have ever written a review here. Unfortunately European Guy doesn’t seem to comment at this site anymore. Though I am hopeful that he does at least check in to read from time to time.

The same goes for Ed in Pattaya who was always a valuable source of information and an all around good bloke. I can’t forget John Bonnaque and his entertaining piece on the demographics of Rockit Reports among other writings that were well received.

Then there are the millions of others who viewed the site but did not leave a comment. I am also grateful that they spent the time to visit. Even if some of them did end up sending me hate mail later. It was all part of the experience.

Cheers.