YNOT EUROPE – What if you could benefit from not only your own exit traffic, but also from the exit traffic of your competitors? The notion so intrigued three European adult companies that they set out to prove, even in a fiercely competitive market, cooperation makes financial sense.

The result is LesbianKino.com, a tube-site-ish example of what the initial partners call “co-opetition,” or cooperative competition. Here’s how it works: Participating sites upload content to LesbianKino. The content is linked back to the owner’s site. Then the participating site sends exit and bounced traffic to LesbianKino, resulting in another opportunity to convert the lost sale. Any conversions pay the site that directed the traffic 50 percent of the revenue gained. The remaining 50 percent is divided equally among the other sites participating in LesbianKino, so every studio benefits from every transaction.

LesbianKino launched in mid-September using a platform developed by AbbyWinters.com, and a spokesperson said the site is enjoying a conversion rate of 861:1. Simple and gimmick-free, LesbianKino offers visitors a subscription priced at $19.95 per month. At present, all content is free to visitors who access the site via smartphone; for everyone else, 25 percent of the site’s content is free.

At launch, 99 percent of LesbianKino’s traffic was referred by the three participants — AbbyWinters.com, SapphicErotica.com and VivThomas.com — but after two months direct traffic picked up to 65 percent. Site administrators attribute the rise in direct traffic to name recognition.

“When surfers think ‘lesbian,’ they automatically think ‘LesbianKino,’” AbbyWinters’ Garion Hall noted.

Unlike the common landlord-and-tenant model under which sites “rent” space from a tube site, LesbianKino’s radical approach fosters a fairer split of revenues, the founders believe. They plan to accept advertising on LesbianKino’s pages in the near future, and all participating sites will share equally in that revenue, as well.

“By releasing a mixture of recent and archived video scenes each week and making some material available for free to visitors, we’re adapting to market demands,” Viv Thomas said.

Content owners interested in establishing a similar partnership may request more information by email.