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What's the harm of a single "premium" no-ads Google that most people don't use? The ongoing cost to maintain two versions that are differentiated that way seems
by clhodapp 8y ago
What's the harm of a single "premium" no-ads Google that most people don't use? The ongoing cost to maintain two versions that are differentiated that way seems pretty low, given that it's really just removing some very self-contained UI modules... They could price it in such a way that it is just as profitable as running ads for those "high value" users, even if that further reduces adoption and still be able to reap a lot of good faith.
- ethbro 8y agoI think the general resistance to doing away with ads is related to revenue ceiling. Ad revenue at Google / Facebook scale is a magic money box. In that they can tell Wall Street (and deliver) ever increasing monetization per user. Once they start directly charging users, they can't increase that invisibly via "better" ad tech anymore. Any increase is directly passed on to the consumer. AND ceiling just became users * subscription fee.
- clhodapp 8y agoInteresting insight, thanks!
- ethbro 8y agoThe irony is that the whole game is not that different from the mortgage backed security products that torched the world. The market's a lot smaller, but it looks a lot like the same information asymmetry that led to more and more complicated instruments being created and sold (in what was at its base a game of trying to push leverage).
- on_and_off 8y agowell, there is youtube red / play music I would be curious to know how many people are subscribed to this service.