Skype rolling out ads in desktop app

Skype has announced a new change to its desktop app, but this particular feature addition isn't about functionality, it's about monetization. Yes, advertisements are coming to Skype. On the upside, they'll only appear on the Skype Home tab -- so they won't get in the way of your actual chat sessions.

The blog post also states that only the U.S., U.K., and Germany will be seeing ads initially, and that anonymous data will be sent to help serve targeted ads. There will also be an opt-out setting for users who don't want to share that data.

Skype offers a truly great service for free, so we're willing to overlook an unobtrusive ad element like the one shown in the example. Heck, maybe the additional revenue will be enough to persuade Skype to make group video calling free again -- like it was in the recent beta versions.

Of course, this could also incite the same kind of blowback as the #dickbar in Twitter's updated iOS app...

Skype rolling out ads in desktop app originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/03/07/skype-rolling-out-ads-in-desktop-apps/

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