Monetizing AOL Instant Messenger

AOL Instant Messenger, more commonly known at AIM, used to be simple. AIM allowed someone to create a screen name, add buddies to the buddy list, and chat the night away. Those days are long gone.

Today to fit into the hip 'AIM World' a user must fill out their buddy info, have some witty away messages, and find a good buddy icon. It seems that the creators of AIM have changed their habits as well. They used to sit around and feel good because people liked the product they spent so much time developing - these days they are sitting around watching the money roll it. Expanding the monetization of AIM seems to be the most recent goal of the developers.

As seen in the picture above - an advertisement bar has been added to the bottom of the buddy info window (though, I can't say when...they slipped that one by me). Clearly the most effective option would have been to place advertisements in the Instant Message window so they would be viewed very frequently, but obviously that is much more intrusive, especially since an ad already appears at the top of the Buddy List window.

AIM is provided as a free service so it doesn't bother me that they host advertisements in their product, but it's beginning to become a little more concerning. Out of the three main windows of AIM (Buddy List, Instant Message Window, Buddy Info Window), two (Buddy List, Buddy Info) are now displaying ads. It started on the buddy list with a small square ad and now has expanded to another window with a small horizontal banner ad. I hope that they don't plan on crowding the IM window in the future with any ads because while I am a very loyal user, I think that would be the point where I begin shopping around for a new service to use.

The point I am trying to make is this: There is no problem with monetizing a free service - it makes a lot of sense. Giving something away for free can only last so long without funds...hence the ads. With that said, there is a fine line between paying the bills (and perhaps making a little on top!) and trying to turn a big profit. As soon as people realize that the developers are trying to do more than fund the service, they will likely be turned off and look for another alternative....which are not hard to find these days.