Microsoft Office: An Advertising Platform
Monday, March 9th, 2009
Office 14
The idea of an ad-supported version of Microsoft Office is nothing new, and is one concept that has been considered alongside Albany — the code name for a subscription-based model of Microsoft Office. What Elsop didn’t mention was what an ad-supported version of Office would look like, but it’s safe to suspect it would be a stripped-down version of the complete software suite.
Offering an ad-supported version makes sense from Microsoft’s point of view, since the company brings in more dollars Office than it does from the Windows OS. Note that Elsop called people using pirated versions of Office “pirate customers.” Clearly, Microsoft hopes they have an opportunity to convert these sinners into saints. Conversion of the masses is an important stumbling block for Microsoft, because, as David Worthington points out on Technologizer, the company loses more money from pirated software than it does from “free competitors” like Google Docs and Open Office. A free version of Office would also seem to be a surrender that Microsoft’s software authentication program, Office Genuine Advantage, is not working as well as they’d hoped.
