Skype is experimenting with advertising in its client.

Skype Marketing Director Doug Beycher announced the launch of advertising in the Skype client. The company believes that the right advertising will help continue to invest in product development.

Highlights of the innovation:

• Now Skype works with several large advertisers, including Groupon, Universal Pictures and Visa.
• Advertisements will be shown in the USA, UK and Germany.
• Advertising will not show constantly, but from time to time.
• Advertisements will appear on the main page in Skype for Windows. Perhaps there will be experiments in other areas.
• Ads will not interrupt the use of Skype. That is, there will not be sudden pop-ups or screaming banners in the middle of a conversation.
• Some non-personal demographic data (such as location, gender, and age) will be used for targeted advertising. Beucher explains the need for this: “For example, if you are in the USA, we don’t want to show you an advertisement for a product that is only available in the UK.
• You can turn off targeting on the “Privacy” tab in “Tools” ▸ “Settings”.