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by Throlkim 5779 days ago
I would assume that they're building momentum before they introduce premium services. Flickr's probably quite a good example of this. I know Posterous have mentioned that they'll be implementing paid-for extras in the future, but that the current offering will remain free.
3 comments
fletchowns 5779 days ago
Doesn't seem fair that somebody can come along and offer a service for free/no ads in order to get people to switch over from a provider that charges/has ads, only to eventually switch over and do the same.
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BrandonM 5779 days ago
Considering that they do not lock you in (they allow to export your content), I see nothing at all unfair about it. If you have your own URL that you point to your blog, switching should be pretty seamless as far as your readers are concerned.
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pjy04 5779 days ago
Yup, this is a popular option. Offer a free version to get people in the door then add value added features for users who want to do more with the service.
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ergo98 5779 days ago
>Flickr's probably quite a good example of this.

Flickr had contextual ads since, I believe, day one. Then they added paid accounts and I subscribed and have never regretted it.

I've been a paid "pro" subscriber to Flickr for many years, trusting them with my media (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dforbes/4657268471/ <- one of my sons nibbled by a goat!) because I had faith that they had a coherent, sustainable business strategy.

Similarly I have faith in Gmail because I can see they aren't struggling to find a revenue model.

I don't trust services that are saving a revenue model until "sometime later", especially where the service has any sort of lock-in or inconvenience if they get bored and move on. Such a make-money-later strategy usually arrives with very negative changes when the day of reckoning comes: It is essentially a bait and switch tactic (one that PG is a big advocate of), and really I view as deceptive, even if it gets a big enough user base that you can flip it to some VCs.

"All blogs now served with free pop-under advertisements!"

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Terretta 5779 days ago
> I don't trust services that are saving a revenue model until "sometime later" ... essentially a bait and switch tactic

Ning! Ning! We have a winner!

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