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Hidden Revenue 21#

The logic that the user is responsible for the income of the business is abandoned. Instead, the main source of revenue comes from a third party, which cross-finances whatever free or low-priced offering attracts the users. A very common case of this model is financing through advertisement, where attracted customers are of value to the advertisers who fund the offering. This concept facilitates the idea of 'separation between revenue and customer'.


Apply this pattern to your own business and create your next innovative business model!

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Examples: Iconic Cases

How they do it: Twitter does not charge its users for accessing its platform or using its mobile apps. Rather, advertisements are shown periodically, and brands may pay Twitter a fee to promote their tweets sl that they appear more prominently throughout users’ newsfeeds.
Learn more about Twitter →

How they do it: A lot of apps in the AppStore are available for free to the user, however while using the app the user is exposed to various advertisements.
Learn more about Apple iPhone/AppStore →

How they do it: Advertisements help keep Skype free for millions of users. These advertisements are displayed in an unobtrusive way and will not disrupt Skype user’s experience. If customers have purchased Skype Credits or a subscription, you will not see advertisements for other companies in Skype.
Learn more about Skype →

How they do it: Craigslist generates revenue through listing fees for certain categories such as jobs and apartments. Users can use the platform for free.
Learn more about Craigslist →

How they do it: Brainpool’s video-on-demand platform MySpass is available for free but financed with video advertising (comparable to traditional TV advertising).
Learn more about Brainpool →



Apply this pattern to your own business and create your next innovative business model!

Start the ideation