Lars Pind

internet software, coaching, and entrepreneurship

Lars Pind - internet software, coaching, and entrepreneurship
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Blinksale does ads in their interface

June 08, 2006 · 5 comments

Ads_in_blinksale.png It’s not the first web app to place ads inline. One that springs to mind is the old intranets.com (are they still around?) which seemed to be all about selling you stuff. But for a modern-day web you-know-the-number type web application? And on the inwards-facing side of things? I’m more accustomed to someone like Flickr putting ads against my photos, but not against the screen I use to upload my photos. Maybe it’s because I’m on the free plan, and they go away if I pay? Interesting.

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5 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Raymond // Jun 08, 2006 at 09:12 PM

    Well, the Blinksale folks are certainly influenced by 37signals, who put ads in all the free services they offer. Nothing really wrong with that, either, as long as they go away when you pay. I wish more folks would do that - I'd pay $5 a month or whatever for an ad-free Gmail, personally. Just like it better.

  • 2 Lars Pind // Jun 08, 2006 at 11:34 PM

    Hm, looks like I've been pretty blind. I've noticed the ads in the free version of Campfire, but never noticed the ones in Backpack. But these are only for their own products, it seems, which to me is a different category. Anyway, it's a good idea to support the free accounts that way, a win for everybody.

  • 3 Josh Williams // Jun 09, 2006 at 01:47 AM

    Hey Lars, They do go away on paid accounts. But yes, it does help offset the costs of hosting the free accounts. Thanks for noticing. Best, Josh

  • 4 kandace // Jun 10, 2006 at 04:42 AM

    The paid Blinksale account does have a pretty blatant advertisement for Blinksale (see "this post":http://needmoredesigns.com/notes/334/blinksale-update-sells-us-all). Yes, the add is hidden behind a "what is this?" link, but then Blinksale goes on to uses your business name in their marketing copy. So, if your business is "X Designs", the ad reads, "X Designs uses Blinksale to send, track, and manage invoices—like yours. Not only is Blinksale the easiest way to send invoices online..." Again, this is on paid accounts.

  • 5 Lars Pind // Jun 10, 2006 at 05:00 AM

    Hm, i'm with Josh on this one, I don't mind all that much. It's quite big and ugly and show up at the top of the page when you click a link down somewhere in the middle-right of the page, but apart from that, it's ok with me. Ok, a little over the top in language.