Skip to main content

Skype rolling out ads for Windows client

Skype is looking to bolster its financial standing ahead of an expected initial public offering. To that end, the company will start to roll out ads this week for its Windows client.

The first batches of ads will include paid messages from Visa, Groupon and Universal Pictures and will initially only appear in the U.S., Germany and the United Kingdom. The VoIP provider said that it plans to limit the number of ads users will be exposed to by only displaying an ad from a single brand per day.

While Skype plans to make the ads targeted by gathering “non-personally identifiable” data (gender, location, age, etc.) , it will also let users opt out to prevent the information from being shared with advertisers. The ads may contain video and audio. Users will also be able to close out of the ads if they don’t like what they’re seeing.

Skype said that the ads “won’t interrupt your Skype experience. You won’t suddenly see annoying pop-up ads or flashy banner ads in middle of conversations.”

Skype began filing IPO paperwork last summer and may complete the process as early as the first half of this year. The Wall Street Journal says that a Skype IPO may be the biggest in the tech world since 2004, when Google’s public offering brought in $1.67 billion.

Skype recorded around 145 million monthly users at the end of 2010. But of those, only some 8.8 million were reported as paying members. The company reportedly generated $860 million in revenue in 2010 for a net loss of $7 million.

Last week, Skype and Citrix Systems announced a partnership to bring business-friendly conferencing capabilities to Skype through Citrix’s GoToMeeting service.

Aemon Malone
Former Digital Trends Contributor
This Lenovo ThinkPad is usually priced at $2,688 — today it’s $589
The Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 3 laptop on a white background.

If you're looking at laptop deals for an offer that will get you a high-performance device for an affordable price, you should check out the Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 3, which will be yours for $589. Lenovo says it's a $2,099 discount, but we're not sure about the laptop's original price of $2,688. Nevertheless, it's a powerful laptop for that cost, which should catch the attention of a lot of shoppers. If you're interested, you still have time to take advantage of this bargain, but you should hurry because we're not sure when it will end or when stocks will run out.

Why you should buy the Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 3
Lenovo inherited the ThinkPad line from IBM, according to our explainer on the different Lenovo brands, which explains the iconic look, sturdy design, and focus on productivity of the Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 3. The laptop will quickly prove that it's a reliable work-from-anywhere partner with its AMD Ryzen 5 Pro 5675U processor and integrated AMD Radeon Graphics, which are combined with 16GB of RAM that's on the level of top-tier machines, according to our guide on how much RAM do you need.

Read more
One of Alienware’s best pre-built gaming PCs has a $400 discount
Alienware Aurora R15 placed at an angle on a table.

Not all gaming PC deals are worth buying, but here's an offer that gamers looking for a new machine shouldn't ignore -- Dell's $400 discount on the Alienware Aurora R15, which brings its price down from $1,600 to $1,200. It's still not what you'd call affordable, but it's a steal price for one of the brand's best pre-built gaming PCs. You're going to have to hurry though, because there's a chance that the bargain will already be gone if you check again tomorrow. Proceed with the transaction right now if you don't want to miss out.

Why you should buy the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC
The Alienware Aurora R16 has taken the spot of the best Alienware gaming PC in our roundup of the best gaming PCs, but its predecessor, the Alienware Aurora R15, is still a pretty awesome gaming PC by today's standards. Its futuristic design isn't just a gimmick, as the gaming desktop can play the best PC games of today and the upcoming PC games of tomorrow with its 13th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, and 16GB of RAM. The Alienware Aurora R15's internal components are easy to upgrade due to the Alienware Aurora R15's Legend 2.0 design, but you won't have to swap components any time soon.

Read more
This Alienware gaming laptop with RTX 4070 is over $500 off today
Alienware m18 laptop sitting on a table.

While there are gaming laptop deals on affordable devices, hardcore gamers may be looking at the other direction -- the most powerful devices that you can get with a discount. This one fits the bill -- the Alienware m18 gaming laptop for $1,950, following Dell's $550 discount on its original price of $2,500. We're not sure how much time is remaining on this offer, so you're going to have to be quick with your purchase if you want to make sure that you're able to grab this bargain.

Why you should buy the Alienware m18 gaming laptop
The specifications of the Alienware m18 allow it to challenge the performance of the best gaming laptops -- the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card, and 32GB of RAM. You won't run into any issues if you choose to play the best PC games at their highest settings, and you won't have to worry that your gaming laptop won't be enough for any upcoming PC games. All that power will be on full display on the Alienware m18's large 18-inch screen with Full HD+ resolution and a 480Hz refresh rate.

Read more