Skype Users Expect More Ads after Microsoft Acquisition
Communication on Skype is going to get more commercial. Microsoft is planning to increase marketing opportunities for advertisers within Skype. This will lead to advertisers having access to Skype customers as they video chat with friends and family.
The negotiations between Skype and Microsoft which led to the $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype started as a discussion about advertising collaboration opportunities.
“Microsoft has a strong history with Skype. We're familiar with them, based upon the Skype client work on Windows, and we've been talking for a while about other important partnership opportunities, including partnering in the advertising area,” said Steve Ballmer.
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On Tuesday during a press conference announcing the acquisition, Tony Bates, chief executive of Skype, and Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft, announced that video advertising was on the forefront of Skype’s new potential advertising opportunities.
“We think advertising is a very powerful monetization stream for us. If you think about the size of our user base, it's just a natural extension for that. We want to approach the market, really, around a rich media approach, though, so if you see the ad it's a very rich experience. You can click on the ad. That can pop out. You can see a piece of animated rich media with advertising. So, we really think that it fits the user base of where we've been moving, which is to really have this immersive experience,” said Tony Bates at the join Microsoft and Skype press conference.
Bates specified that a video opportunity, not just in advertising but also in a rich communication capacity is the ultimate goal for Skype. The company believes that video advertising is still an emerging market and that finding new ways to create an engaged user base is important. “We estimate 45 percent growth just in video-based ads over the compound annual growth rate in the next few years,” said Bates.
