His company figured that others would pay to reach a large audience. The company hired a full-time salesperson, and last year, software advertising made up 11 percent of the company's revenue. Web advertising accounted for another 8 percent. Ready is vice president of marketing for Indianapolis-based Aureate Media. The firm rounds up advertisers and matches them up with software developers.
Consumers seem to like it and developers have found a new revenue stream for their products.
Intuit, the Mountain View, Calif. company that makes Turbo Tax and Quicken, says maybe. Already the company has put ads in software with its release of Quicken 98. But Quicken is now selling the ads as another source of revenue, rather than as a way to sponsor its products. Timothy C. Barmann is a Journal-Bulletin staff writer. His column appears occasionally in the Business Section.