← Back to Network View

Card image cap
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!

Examples: Iconic Cases

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: As Hotmail drove a lot of traffic on its website from its email users, it monetized that traffic with ads. These include sponsored articles, as well as display ads. The core product remained free to the user but Hotmail generated revenue from advertisers.
Learn more about Hotmail →

How they do it: Google’s search engine is free to use for all customers. However Google monetizes its search users through providing companies targeted advertising which allows them to target exactly the customers that are looking for a certain product or service and also enables the customers to better find what they are looking for.
Learn more about Google →

How they do it: SlideShare was acquired by LinkedIn in 2012. It then started to offer advertisers the opportunity to run Content Ads, which enabled them to reach a targeted audience of professionals on LinkedIn.
Learn more about SlideShare →

How they do it: Facebook is free for private individuals and businesses. The main monetization happens through the possibility for companies for targeted advertising.
Learn more about Facebook →



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