In 1998, nearly 20 years after the creation of Usenet, a company called GUBA brought it into the modern realm by essentially giving it a user-friendly interface. However, the question remains: Have enough people taken notice?
In an age where Usenet isn’t exactly the sexiest technology, GUBA is nonetheless trying to make it more appealing—through their own search technology and through the quick adaptation to new delivery methods. In the latter realm, GUBA has incorporated technologies that would turn any geek on. Just take a look at their Flash-based video delivery, which plays any type of video file at the snap of your fingers, or how the company has embraced new mediums like Apple’s video iPod, Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP), and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 by making content readily available for each platform.
To understand where GUBA is coming from and what they’re up against, you first have to go back to the final days of disco, when two Duke University graduate students developed Usenet. In 1979 Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived a file transfer system in which users read and post email like messages to a series of categorized newsgroups. The messages, or articles as they were, are then stored and forwarded among a large group of servers, effectively transferring each article from one person to many. An extremely innovative technology in its day, Usenet seemed to become somewhat antiquated with the introduction of the Internet and email.
While its newsgroups still produce discussions that are indexed by Google Groups, Usenet is still in wide use today thanks in large part to the popularity of image and video swapping. Although multimedia delivery companies like Yahoo and Google – along with P2P networks – have cut into its popularity among file swappers, Usenet is hardly dead.
Wikipedia states that more than two terabytes of content are added daily to Usenet, the largest amount in its history. One could make the argument that Usenet is more popular than ever.
Google may index Usenet’s discussion groups, but no major search engines indexes its multimedia content, leaving little doubt that the popularity of video and image swapping has helped Usenet remain viable, as has GUBA.
In 1998 two Arizona State University graduates created GUBA, a slick search engine and archiving system for the vast quantity of files on Usenet. GUBA co-founders, Chief Executive Officer Thomas McInerney and Chief Technology Officer Eric Lambrecht could probably be credited in part with saving Usenet from the graveyard of once great technologies. If it weren’t for their creation, would anyone bother? Consider the free options to acquire similar content—Google Video, Kazaa, Bit Torrent, etc.
GUBA has undoubtedly kept the technologically cognizant interested in Usenet, having quickly adjusted to the changing landscape to remain a viable entity.
“Our tech savvy members love our ability to adapt to the latest technologies and devices on the market,” says Bart Myers , GUBA’s vice president of operations. “We’ve seen tremendous adoption of our Flash and iPod playback and our Podcasting features.”
By embracing these technologies, GUBA can now tout itself as not just the gateway to Usenet, but as the gateway to mobile content.
“GUBA is technology focused with an eye on mobile. Not only are we compatible with video iPods, but many other mobile devices, too,” says Kathleen Morford, GUBA’s director of affiliate marketing. “I can guarantee you that when new mobile devices hit the market we’ll ensure compatibility. Our tech savvy users depend on this. GUBA’s key to success is its willingness to evolve with the times.”
Another factor that has played a role in GUBA’s popularity, especially in light of the company’s embrace of the video iPod and PSP, is porn.
Although most of the content on Usenet is still of the mainstream variety, adult content is prominent on GUBA—as long as the safe mode is turned off, that is. At press time, the company’s featured partnerships were all adult: Video Box, AEBN, WantedList, and Xobile.
“We can kid ourselves, but in the end it’s probably porn that people want,” McInerney told Reuters in November.
Myers admits that the adult industry has been the first to work with GUBA, but promised that the company would be unleashing more strategic partnerships by the end of January.
“Our search is compatible with all media genres. Adult websites have been the first to capitalize on GUBA’s potential. In the near term, you will see other types of strategic partnerships unfold,” he says. “From a marketing affiliate perspective, we have found that our search and navigation tools appeal generally to Web surfers, regardless of the content they are looking for. Surfers interested in specific content can easily find what they are looking for. Surfers generally browsing are exposed to new content types. Also, with GUBA’s Flash and iPod playback features, users can view content regardless of the format in which that content was posted.”
In addition to capitalizing on popular portables and the adult content crazes, GUBA is also positioning its affiliate program for a more prominent role. Enter Morford, the former affiliate manager of AdultFriendFinder, to further develop GUBA’s eight-year-old affiliate presence.
“We’re growing far beyond a simple affiliate-to-pay-site approach,” Morford says. “We’re expanding to allow sites to promote us or to have GUBA promote pay sites. Through revshare up-sells, advertising, and an increased affiliate program, everyone will have a reason to work with us. No other multimedia download site offers real solutions for content providers, affiliates, and tech savvy media junkies.”
So media junkies get boatloads of content for their $14.95 monthly fee. Myers says GUBA has tens of thousands of members along with 1.5 million uniques per week. Affiliates get an average of five months retention, according to Morford.
Recently, GUBA has also opened up their business to content producers, a group that has occasionally focused their ire on the company for what some individuals perceive to be GUBA’s profiting off their content. The company, much like Napster before them, denies such notions.
“GUBA provides a Web front-end to Usenet, a technology protocol hosted hundreds of ISPs around the world. GUBA does not post content to Usenet,” Myers says. “In fact, many websites post watermarked content to Usenet, taking advantage of the free advertising opportunity. Our media search indexes many sources of online content, and is closer to Google or Yahoo than services associated with piracy.”
Indeed, Usenet is home to a bevy of watermarked adult images, summoning the porn hungry to locales such as Hidden Whores, SS Teens, and even Suicide Girls. GUBA has taken their service a step further, launching a file uploading interface for their content partners and users, allowing them to take advantage of the company’s server-based Flash and iPod video transcoding. GUBA’s premium content partners work directly with the company to up-sell their content to the GUBA user base.
“GUBA is branching out in all directions. We want content producers to leverage the success that we’ve had for years,” Morford says.
That success will likely continue through the company’s demonstrated ability to adapt an old technology to new ones.
“Our goal is to make finding and consuming media easier than it ever has been before,” Myers says.
If that becomes a reality, GUBA may turn out to be the next Google or Yahoo, only in an adult-friendly package.
