Skype announced on Monday that it will start expanding ads into its Windows platform, along with a promise that they "won't interrupt your Skype experience".
Skype announced on Monday that it will start expanding ads into its Windows platform, along with a promise that they “won’t interrupt your Skype experience”. Slype also announced that the ads will be available in the Home tabs within the U.S., U.K, and German versions of Skype, and would consist of ads from Groupn, Universal Pictures, Visa, among others. The ads will be available this week.
According to the company, the Skype experience is their initial priority and they have spent a lot of time working and investigating what kind of advertising would work best in the Skype environment. Skype is again suggesting a partnership with Facebook to embed Skype on that platform, so that consumers can connect with other users through Skype voice chat to write messages to their friends.
Windows platform
Skype said that the ads won’t identify the user specifically, but the company may utilise the user’s location, gender and age to tailor ads. If the user does not want Skype to utilise this information, the user can select using the Privacy tab under “Tools>Options”.
Since its declaration to go public in the previous year, Skype has been working on ways to expand its user base with low-bandwidth and optimized direct-dial options to enable the technology to be used in areas without widespread PC coverage. Skype also improved its iPhone app and purchased Qik to enhance its video-calling capabilities.
