Quote:
Originally Posted by stonetools
I think a likely option may be the freemium option, a la games, apps, and streaming music services. You download an ebook for free. There is a banner ad across the bottom. ...
Hey, it may not be for everyone, but if it works for games, why not for ebooks?
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"Across the bottom" of what? The ePub? (Has someone figured out how to put headers & footers in ePubs--and make them display on Sony ebook readers?) Does this ad take up 25% of the eink screen for the entire length of the book?
Does the ad still show up if the book is run through Calibre? Is the book a locked PDF, to try to prevent removal of the ad--making it unreadable on small screens?
People are very likely willing to accept non-invasive ads in ebooks. The problem lies in figuring out how to make non-invasive ads work in several ebook formats. The easiest is "splash page at beginning & end," and some publishers do this with their freebies--ads for upcoming releases or tie-in products; readers are happy with that. An ad at ever chapter break is also possible; more intrusive than that, and the ad-supported books will be ignored or stripped before they're read.
Even at chapter breaks, though, the question is, "why is it worth the advertiser's money to pay for part of the ebook?" If the ads lower the cost of the book by $1, are the advertisers going to get $1 of business for every ebook that sells?