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Most peoples' aversion to advertising ends the second they have to pay cash instead. Basing a business on advertising is a rational response. Remember the inc

• squeed 14y ago
  Ordinarily I'd agree, but a huge part of businesses like Skype is the network effect. In other words, Skype is useful because basically everyone has an account and knows how to use the software. So the attitude towards free users has to be more subtle than 'fuck them'. Skype is mature from a user base perspective. Holding off on monetizing free users until network effects start to bring real pull is a great game plan.
• eykanal 14y ago
  It's definitely a rational response. Not all rational responses make for successful, profitable companies, though. Ads are often a poor business decision, as they can cheapen both your product and your business's image. As to your "fuck 'em", if that's your attitude, why bother servicing them at all? Providing ads is simply a way of enabling free users. Stop the ads and the free users, you'll be better off. There's been a lot of links about that, here's one: [1]. And I love those quotes. [1]: http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/12/don_t_be_a_free_user/ http://blog.pinboard.in/2011/12/don_t_be_a_free_user/