Consumer Software Marketing

[Americano]

I was downloading a freebie piece of software from a major company (Ad-Aware), and noticed they've changed what seemed to be the industry standard for trying paid versions of their products.

It was formerly 'Free xx day trial' where one either purchased a license key or the product locked at the end of the trial period.

Now, all one has to do is take a trail run from a list of software products (I didn't look at the offerings) and the paid version of Ad-Aware is free for the first year.

Brilliant, established product revenue bases are money in the bank by what has to be an established conversion factor from trial to purchase statistics. A free year is far more palatable that the threat of a 60-day trial period.

To me it means their trial period numbers had been taking a dive resulting in lower conversions to paid licenses. Or more people like me who dislike paying for a product when a serviceable facsimile is free.

Thoughts? Is the consumer software market suffering along with the rest of the economy, is this a desperate or calculated move to generate numbers for revenue a year out?

[Greendruid]

Hmmm, if I understand you correctly this means you get to try the intended software for free for a year and then get added to a list of other trials? Is that correct? That sounds like a decent deal for sure.

I'm used to a similar model to this. Eudora, my old favourite stand-alone e-mail manager, now being absorbed/out-competed by the larger companies, used to have two modes of operating that they'd sell. One was full (paid) and the other was sponsored mode. They'd run a small window taking up about 10% of the screen for ads. It was never interruptive and allowed you to use free software with most of the bells and whistles for the average user. I thought this was a win-win but it now seems that the software will no longer be updated despite running this successful model for the past 10 or 15 years.

[drgoodtrips]

I'd say the year is a much better idea. I never get anything that has 30 day trial. A year is a lot further off in the future (and gives me time to find a replacement at my leisure). I also notice that I tend to fall into the category of busy/well-to-do consumer. Generally, if I get used to having something, I say "screw it" and pay for it going forward. This happened years ago with Quicken. I now pop for the $40 upgrade every couple of years or so without hesitation. I don't know how people managed more than a checking/savings account and a credit card before this type of software was around.

[Michael]

Ad-Aware has been like this for a few years - I know this because I've been using it all along.

It is totally free for non commercial use. One pays for upgrades to the package, but the basic package is functional.

And I agree that this is a better model than 30 day testing which sucks (and I always avoid).

[Americano]

Ad-Aware has been like this for a few years - I know this because I've been using it all along.

It is totally free for non commercial use. One pays for upgrades to the package, but the basic package is functional.

And I agree that this is a better model than 30 day testing which sucks (and I always avoid).

I've also used it for years but they're becoming annoying. I'm now getting pop-up ads for the free upgrade from them on an weekly basis. Considering the number of big name participants, this is a piece of a major marketing effort put forth by someone other than Lavasoft.