[davidandgoliath]

How are advertisements unsavory? Is this same opinion of yours applicable against google, for the ads on it's search engine?

Just curious. I've never had anything against ads personally unless they're intrusive -- or that my data is being bought & sold to show them. Not that I trust $vendor to keep that data private, but showing me the latest advertisement for some movie coming out next week isn't going to ruin my experience. Youtube's advertisement implementation for example, I find intrusive & frustrating as it literally displays over top of the content and returns on every video you watch.

Until skype starts strapping a pepsi logo to my partner-in-chat's face, I'm content.

If it helps keep skype around longer, kudos. I enjoy using the app.

[SnowLprd]

It's not the advertisements I find unsavory — it's the spin. Rather than just say, "We will be introducing a new type of ad that we hope users won't find too intrusive," they instead refer to the ads as "content" and spin them as conversation starters.

I agree that ads have their place, particularly in a free product or service. But since you brought up Google, I'm not sure we should be holding them up as an example of how to do un-intrusive advertising:

http://www.davidmihm.com/blog/google/world/

[rhizome]

Google doesn't portray its ads as content.

[barista]

right that's why they don't show right above where the actual content of search results is displayed....oh wait...

[rhizome]

I think your definition of "content" is too expansive in this context. Just because it's on the page doesn't mean it's content. Skype/MS saying that the presence of in-line ads will foster conversation is much different than sponsored or side results in Google SERPs.

[hetman]

He meant the ads are in line with the content. The fact that it's an ad is certainly highlighted but it is intentionally subtle.

[rhizome]

They aren't interspersed except at the page level. It's not the same thing.

[hetman]

I don't know how Google show up for you, but when I do a search for a term such as "cars" I get ads that appear very similar to the actual search results at the beginning and end of the same list. In fact all the high contrast features are identical between the two, and it is only the lower contrast features that distinguish the ads from the results.

[jodrellblank]

How are advertisements unsavory? Is this same opinion of yours applicable against google, for the ads on it's search engine?

When you search Google, it uses Google's servers and web index.

Skype uses other user's bandwidth to route calls.

Leeching other people's bandwidth and also advertising to you while doing so, stings.

(Yes they have directory services and development to pay for, and yes they have infrastructure, for POTS-integration, but on the other hand, POTS-integration isn't free, it's already charged for separately on a service-use basis).

[FreeFull]

Microsoft has been working to make Skype only use Microsoft's servers for a while now. I believe a lot of Skype data is going through these servers already, and since no users can become new supernodes any more, some time in the future all the data will go through Microsoft's servers.

[jmsduran]

I too find advertisements in general unsavory.