business-models.md

Business Models

Advertising

Models	Examples
Display ads	Yahoo!
Search ads	Google
Text ads	Google
Video ads	Hulu, Twitch.tv, YouTube
Audio ads	Pandora, Radio, Podcasts
Promoted content	Twitter, Tumblr
Paid-content links	Outbrain
Recruitment ads	LinkedIn
Lead generation	MoneySuperMarket, ZocDoc
Affiliate fees	The Wirecutter
Classifieds	Craigslist
Featured listings	Yelp, Super Pages;
E-mail ads	Yahoo, MSN
Ad-retargeting	Criteo
Real-time-intent ad delivery	AcuityAds, Rocket Fuel
Location-based offers	Foursquare
Sponsorships/Site take-overs	Pandora
Lifetime, unique ad space	NSFWCORP Conflict Tower, milliondollarhomepage.com
Sponsorships	Twitch.tv users

Commerce

Models	Examples
Retailing	Zappos
Marketplace	Etsy
Crowd-sourced marketplace	Threadless
Excess-capacity markets	Uber, AirBnB
Vertically-integrated commerce	Warby Parker
Aggregator	Lastminute.com
Flash sales	Gilt Groupe, Vente Privee, Fab
Group buying	Groupon
Digital goods/downloads	iTunes
Virtual goods	Zynga
Training	Cloudera(?), -> Coursera
Pay what you want	Radiohead
Commission	SharesPost
Commission per order	Seamless, GrubHub
Auction	eBay
Reverse Auction	Priceline
Barter for services	SwapRight

Subscription

Models	Examples
Software as a Service (SaaS)	Salesforce, Github, Vidhub
Service aaS	Shopify
Content aaS	Spotify, Netflix
Platform aaS (PaaS)	dotCloud, Heroku
Infrastructure aaS (IaaS)	Amazon AWS, Rackspace, Digital Ocean
Freemium SaaS	Dropbox
Ethical premium	Proposed by Clayton Cubitt
Donations	Wikipedia
Recurring donations (w/ rewards)	Patreon
Sampling	Birchbox, BarkBox (sic)
Membership services	Amazon Prime
Support and maintenance	10gen, Red Hat, Cloud66
Paywall	New York Times, Andrew Sullivan
Strict Paywall	The Information
Porous Paywall	NSFWCORP
Voice and video conferencing	Uberconference
Newsletter	Ricardo Bueno
Fremium subscription	Twitch.tv
Developer Tools	TravisCI, CodeClimate, GitHub

Peer to Peer (P2P)

Models	Examples
P2P lending	Lending Club
P2P gambling	BetFair
P2P buying	Etsy
P2P insurance
P2P computing	CrasPlan storage, SETI@home
P2P service	Mechanical Turk, TaskRabbit
P2P mobile WiFi/tethering

Transaction-Processing

Models	Examples
Merchant acquiring	PayPal (On-/Offline), Stripe (OnL), Square (OffL)
Intermediary	IP Commerce (POS 2.0), CardSpring
Acquiring processing	Paymentech
Bank transfer	Dwolla
Bank depository offering	Simple, Movenbank (spread on average deposits)
Bank card issuance	Simple (interchange fee per transaction)
Fullfilment	Amazon
Messaging	Peer-to-Peer SMS, IM, Group Messaging
Telephony (public networks)	Skype out/in
Telephony (private cloud)	Native Skype
Mobile payment gateway	Braintree
Platform monetization (“tax”)	Facebook Credits, iOS 30/70 cut

Licensing

Models	Examples
Per seat	Sencha
Per device/server	QlikView
Per application instance	Adobe Photoshop
Per site	Private cloud on internal infrastructure
Patent	Qualcomm
Brand	Sesame Street
Indirect	Apple Volume Purchasing

Data

Models	Examples
User data	BlueKai
Business data	Duedil
User intelligence	YouGov
Search Data	Chango
Real-time consumer intent data	Yieldbot
Benchmarking services	Comscore
Market research	GLG

Mobile

Models	Examples
Paid-app downloads	WhatsApp
In-app purchases	Zynga Poker
In-app subscriptions	New York Times app
Advertising	Flurry, AdMob
Digital-to-physical	Red Stamp, Postagram

Gaming

Models	Examples
Freemium (virtual currency)	Zynga
Subscription	World of Warcraft
Premium	Xbox games
DLC (downloadable content)	Call of Duty
Ads	addictinggames.com

Open Source (Freemeium)

Models	Examples
SoliloquyWP	WordPress plugin with Premium Addons
WooCommerce	WordPress plugin with Premium Addons
Easy Digital Downloads	WordPress plugin with Premium Addons
Envira Gallery	WordPress plugin with Premium Addons
Yoast SEO	WordPress plugin with Premium Addons

Open Source (Support)

Models	Examples
Commercial Support	RedHat, Automattic (wordpress)
Application Partnerships	Mozilla
Infrastructure	MongoHQ, PhoneGap Build