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[EuchreJack]

Alternately Skype will just get bundled with the 360 and Windows, then be paid for with ad bars in the Skype window.

BUT THEN THE SKY WILL FALL.

Yeah, taking something free and adding ad bars seems to be a tried-and-true business strategy.  I'd be very surprised if the future for Skype doesn't involve ad bars.

[Empty]

I'm still doubting the feasibility of ad bars.

Aren't these ignored automatically by people?

[Aqizzar]

Aren't these ignored automatically by people?

You'd be surprised how rarely Internet-ad people actually realize that.  But it doesn't really matter.  Everything that has ever been free, then embraced ads, eventually gave way to a pay-plan and ads.  Just see cable-TV, radio worth listening to, or any Internet service provider from before 1999.  YouTube is just around the corner from charging for uploads, mark my words.

[Deadbeard]

Has nobody ever heard of Mumble?

[King Cow]

There is no way they will make thier money back on this. Microsoft seems to have been plagued by bad management for years now.

[GlyphGryph]

I don't even know anyone who uses AIM or ICQ anymore because of how annoying the ad bars got. Like most people I would rather PAY for something than have to deal with some ad bars. Everyone I've every known has switched over to gtalk to avoid them, and the only people I know still on the AIM network connect through a third-party client.

Of course, the TYPE of ad bar is important - AIM's problem was insisting on the type that talk and move, I think. Those are terrible, at least when people don't expect them. They are still big thanks to momentum, of course, but it doesn't look like it will last.

[lordcooper]

I would rather PAY for something than have to deal with some ad bars.

Will you pay me to not pm you screenshots of adbars?

[EuchreJack]

I'm still doubting the feasibility of ad bars.

Aren't these ignored automatically by people?

Basic marketing theory is that nothing can be totally ignored by people.  While the viewer may consciously ignore the adbar, they are subconsciously reading and absorbing the message of the adbar.  So while the person doesn't know it, they eventually desire whatever is being advertised.

Granted, most people are not so weak-willed as to fall for the adbar trap, but it apparently works some of the time, and thus advertisers continue to support it.

[umiman]

Basic marketing theory is that nothing can be totally ignored by people.  While the viewer may consciously ignore the adbar, they are subconsciously reading and absorbing the message of the adbar.  So while the person doesn't know it, they eventually desire whatever is being advertised.

Granted, most people are not so weak-willed as to fall for the adbar trap, but it apparently works some of the time, and thus advertisers continue to support it.

I wonder what kind of school you go to where such things are considered "basic marketing theory".

[SquidgyB]

I don't know about "basic" but we discussed it at length in marketing modules at university.

Anyhow, theregister.com had a nice speculation piece about the future for Micro$kype -

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/05/10/microsoft_buys_skype1/

...most of the future plans are on page 3.

I usually hold the Reg in high regard, but they did post a story about bees and mobile phones earlier today that was a complete load of sensationalist bullshit. Anyhow, I digress.

Ads are likely, as is inclusion into xbox. Also their enterprise software will benefit, like Lync.

[umiman]

I like this quote:
"We own a verb!"

I should make that my dream goal too. One day I will own a verb as well!

[Sensei]

A slightly less Orwellian logic for ads is that even though people try to ignore ads, they remember them and that they exist. So when you say "I want a hamburger, who has hamburgers?" McDonald's comes to mind, just because the ads make them well-known, even if the ad doesn't make you rush out and buy a hamburger. In other words, just brand awareness.

...unless the ad is REALLY annoying and you make a mental note to consciously avoid a company and its subsidiaries. 

[sluissa]

I usually hold the Reg in high regard, but they did post a story about bees and mobile phones earlier today that was a complete load of sensationalist bullshit. Anyhow, I digress.

Funny, I usually don't hold TheRegister in much regard, however the bee story is, in fact just more recent reporting of a hypothesis that's been considered as a cause for years now.

Article from 2007 about the same phenomena: http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/are-mobile-phones-wiping-out-our-bees-444768.html

</digression>

In regards to Skype, I hope it doesn't change much for us normal users. From that article it seems as if they're just going to push for it to be put on phones in a more friendly way and market it better to business users.

Edit: And the 360, of course, which I don't really care much about.

[King Cow]

With that type of advertiseing I think it's a case of throwing as much poo at the wall as you can and seeing what sticks. It's not really hard to see how it works, mass audience and cheap to spam. It's not really very profitable though which is why people have had trouble monetising a lot of the internet.