But it has evolved into a service that users would prefer not to live without. And like TV and radio, advertising is the next logical, complementary step to reaching a mass market. Downloadable software has spawned a new advertising medium, one in which the audience is highly targeted because of the type of application the consumer selects to download. Downloading software is a deliberate activity, more so than randomly channel surfing or passively flipping through a magazine. Engaged and Targeted One of the primary goals of any marketer is to reach an active, potential customer who doesn't just breeze by the advertising message, but who truly absorbs and considers it.
Software users are engaged individuals who can spend hours using one application to complete a task.
And greater precision targeting can better quantify the return on investment for an advertiser. Simply put, it's an ad buy with more reliable, definable results than other randomly placed advertising. For example, a mortgage company could place linkable banner ads for low interest mortgages within a Home Buyer's Loan Calculator. Realtors would be a perfect marriage in this type of software, too. An online stock brokerage site could place a linkable banner ad in stock portfolio managers.