SOAPware

In 1989, I edited a special Economics issue of the journal Information and Software Technology, which was republished as a book two years later. One of the contributions was from a young Israeli researcher called Sheizaf Rafaeli (now a professor at the University of Haifa), and discussed the then almost unheard-of possibility of funding software through advertising. It was called “Soapware: The fit between software and advertising”.

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In October 2005, Bill Gates and Ray Ozzie sent an internal email around Microsoft. (For leaked email, see InfoWorld. See also my post on Internet Service Disruption.)

Bill Gates: "Advertising has emerged as a powerful new means by which to directly and indirectly fund the creation and delivery of software and services."

Ray Ozzie: "A new business model has emerged in the form of advertising-supported services and software."


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