As it is still in its nascent stages, the digital communications platform says its initial roster of advertisers include Groupon, Visa and Universal Pictures thus far and that the ads will appear only in the US, UK and Germany for the time being.
“We’re really pleased by the initial response among advertisers. We believe advertising on Skype helps fill a creative gap by giving brands a platform that has broad reach and global engagement, while also supporting large-format, rich and interactive ads,” said Doug Bewsher, chief marketing officer for Skype.
The ads will be visible in the home tab but the company points out that the door is open to experimenting with ads in other areas of the programme as well.
Skype clarifies that users may only see the ads occasionally, as its initial plan is to show an ad from one brand per day in each of the markets where the advertisement space is being sold.
For ad-wary users, Skype says that the ads would not interrupt the voice call or chat experience since pop-up or flashy ads in the middle of conversations would not be part of the advertising approach.
However, the company admits that it may use non-personally identifiable demographic data such as location, gender and age to target ads, to ensure that users only see ads relevant to them. On the other hand, they can choose to opt out of sharing this data with advertisers by selecting an option located in the privacy tab.
“The Skype experience is our first priority, which is why we’ve taken a lot of time working through and testing what kind of advertising would work best in the Skype environment,” added Bewsher in a post on the company’s blog page. “We believe that advertising, when done in the right way, will help us continue to invest in developing great products.”
