I don’t know why I never noticed this before, but apparently Adobe has a live promotional link in my Indesign “Recent Items” box. I was working on some pages for next week’s issue when I noticed a link in the lower right-hand corner for “Adobe MAX 2009,” a conference sponsored by the software company.
It made me think: No one thinks twice about Google offering ads in its free apps, and it allows people to opt in for ads in its paid editions. Would some of the bigger software vendors — Adobe and Microsoft come to mind — who are facing pressure from cloud-based software consider offering a reduced price in exchange for the chance to display text ads on startup? Users of their products are an attractive audience for many marketers, and consumers have shown a willingness to work through ads in cloud applications.
