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Skype

It seems like Skype is ready to completely change its business model.  According to CEO Josh Silverman, Skype is looking at different ways of allowing ads in the user’s interface.  The reason for this change is, of course, to generate higher revenues that allow Skype to continue offering its service for free (calls are currently free between computers).

The ads would not only appear in the free services, but would also appear on paid service as a possible reduction in telephone rates.

It seems as though, slowly but surely, the giants of the online world (we’ve already written here about Twitter’s business model), which used to have immaculate, nearly blank home pages or interfaces, are going the unavoidable route of advertising: if their business model cannot be based on fees paid by the user, these companies have no other option but to “invent” advertising solutions (non-invasive, of course), proving that you can make money while still offering free services.

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