Adobe (adobe.com) holds an absolute, unshakeable monopoly on the global creative professional industry. Providing the industry-standard tools required for photo manipulation, video editing, and vector illustration, Adobe is the engine behind global marketing, Hollywood post-production, and web design. Fully cementing its rank among the top websites in the world, the Adobe portal is the gateway to the digital arts ecosystem.
Adobe was founded in December 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke after leaving Xerox PARC. The company was named after Adobe Creek, a stream that ran behind Warnock's house in Los Altos, California. Their first major success was creating PostScript, a printing language that revolutionized desktop publishing. In 1989, Adobe acquired a digital image editing program created by two brothers, which would eventually become the legendary 'Photoshop.' In 2012, Adobe executed a massive, highly controversial business pivot: they stopped selling their software in physical boxes for a one-time fee and forced the entire global creative industry onto a cloud-based monthly subscription model.
Adobe.com serves as the centralized portal to download, manage, and license its massive software catalog:
Operating with a market capitalization of $200 Billion, Adobe is one of the most profitable SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) companies in history. Because graphic designers, video editors, and animators cannot perform their jobs without Adobe's proprietary files, the company enjoys incredibly high user retention. They generate billions in recurring monthly revenue by charging high premium subscription fees for access to the Creative Cloud, effectively acting as an operational tax on the global creative industry.
Generating 540 Million visits per month, Adobe.com is universally trafficked by digital professionals. The United States accounts for 28% of its web engagement. Due to the global nature of freelance design and corporate marketing, the platform sees immense, sustained usage across India (8%), the United Kingdom, Germany, and Brazil.