A tricky balancing act for NetNewsWire

Back when NetNewsWire first became freeware, at the beginning of 2008, the plan was to make money from anonymous data that gets sent back and forth with syncing.

As I understand it, this information could, for example, be sold to marketing companies looking for trends in what people are interested in buying.

When the next version of NetNewsWire comes out, you will no longer be able to sync with NewsGator or DotMac. You will, however, be able to sync with Google Reader. Apparently this is a much requested feature, but it could be that the developer, NewsGator, has some kind of deal with Google for sharing data. Or perhaps the idea is that more people will use syncing if they can do it with a service as popular as Google Reader.

Either way, it’s all the more surprising that NewsGator would risk alienating much of its user base by placing an ad at the bottom of the sidebar on the left. Some people are already defecting to Vienna and other news readers in protest.

And with a smaller user base, syncing data would become less meaningful and presumably be worth less to Google or other companies.

Likely one of two things happened:

One, NewsGator did not anticipate a user rebellion.

Two, they really need that extra revenue stream from advertising.

There has been talk of offering a paid version for those who don’t want the ads. In fact, a similar model exists with other apps such as Tweetie.

The problem, though, is that many people — including me! — paid for NetNewsWire back when it wasn’t free. We can only hope they’ve kept track of all those licences they sold and will be able to honour them. If not, it could be a real shemozzle.

As luck would have it, I downloaded the beta but can’t get ads to show up, so it’s hard to know if I’ll find them so irritating that I’ll want them gone. My hunch is that I would put up with them. First, because I know it’s virtually impossible for software this complex to be truly free. Second, because the developers have just as much right to make a living as the rest of us. And third, because, well, they really aren’t — judging by this screenshot — that bad.

In the end, my feeling is that NewsGator and NetNewsWire developer Brent Simmons have solid reputations, and they will figure out a compromise to make most, if not all, of us happy.

date posted Posted Saturday, August 1, 2009 in

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  1. You didn’t have the ad because I’m sure you downloaded the later beta in which they’ve removed the ad (until they find a better way to disable the ad).

    My instant reaction with the ad was, “Ok, then I’m ready to re-instate my license, but remove that ad.”

    I’m willing to pay for such a cool software but I don’t want a forceful ad which I’ve no control over.

    Brajeshwar

  2. Glad they added the Google Reader syncing for sure – Newsgator was flat out terrible. Like you, I’ll probably put up with the ads, though depending on how much they want to charge I’ll consider buying a paid version – I like NNW far more than all the other newsreaders I’ve tried.

    Anonymous





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