Back to year 2005, there were hot discussions about ad-supported software model in ZDNet blogger community. The topic was orginated by a news that Microsoft was ruminating on ad-supported software that leverages its new adCenter platform. Although no specific plans have been made, executives within Microsoft were examining whether it makes sense to release ad-supported versions of products.
In July 2007, there was another news said that Microsoft Works would become a free, ad-funded product that will compete directly with Open Office and Google Docs & Spreadsheets. However this did not really happen. Microsoft Works 9 is sold at $39.95 currentlly.
Will Microsoft consider ad-funded software model again? I really don’t know. But looking at the background that drove Microsoft to consider ad-funded software model. I can bet that this topic may be brought up again in the future. The background is the competition from Open Source and freeware growth. Till today, the competition is still there and even hot.
As the leader in operation system and business applications, Microsoft has to be very careful in any change of its revenue model. Any change made by Microsoft will make a deep impact on the whole software industry.
