Business Models
===============

Advertising
-----------

Models                       | Examples
:----------------------------|:-------------------------
Display ads                  | Yahoo!
Search ads                   | Google
Text ads                     | Google
Video ads                    | Hulu, Twitch.tv
Audio ads                    | Pandora, Radio, Podcasts
Promoted content             | Twitter, [Tumblr](http://www.quora.com/Tumblr/How-does-Tumblr-make-money)
Paid-content links           | Outbrain
Recruitment ads              | LinkedIn
Lead generation              | MoneySuperMarket, ZocDoc
Affiliate fees               | [The Wirecutter](http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/17/business/media/buffeted-by-the-web-but-now-riding-it.html?ref=business&pagewanted=all&_r=1&)
Classifieds                  | Craigslist
Featured listings            | Yelp, Super Pages;
E-mail ads                   | Yahoo, MSN
Ad-retargeting               | Criteo 
Real-time-intent ad delivery |
Location-based offers        | Foursquare
Sponsorships/Site take-overs | Pandora
Lifetime, unique ad space    | [NSFWCORP Conflict Tower](http://blog.paulcarr.com/porous-paywalls-are-not-the-answer-to-anything-cartoon-towers-on-the-other-hand/), milliondollarhomepage.com
Sponsorships                 | [Twitch.tv users](http://gamecannon.com/monetize-twitch-tv-stream/)

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
Service aaS                        | Shopify
Content aaS                        | Spotify, Netflix
Platform aaS (PaaS)                | dotCloud, Heroku
Infrastructure aaS (IaaS)          | 
Freemium SaaS                      | Dropbox
Ethical premium                    | Proposed by [Clayton Cubitt](http://claytoncubitt.tumblr.com/post/38164739490)
Donations                          | Wikipedia
Recurring donations (w/ rewards)   | [Patreon](http://www.patreon.com/carbotanimations)
Sampling                           | Birchbox, [BarkBox](https://barkbox.com/) (sic)
Membership services                | Amazon Prime
Support and maintenance            | 10gen, Red Hat, [Cloud66](http://www.cloud66.com/pricing)
Paywall                            | New York Times, [Andrew Sullivan](http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/208300/andrew-sullivan-tweaks-paywall-model-after-initial-subscriber-surge-slows/)
Strict Paywall                     | [The Information](https://www.theinformation.com/Letter-From-the-Editor1)
Porous Paywall                     | [NSFWCORP](http://blog.paulcarr.com/porous-paywalls-are-not-the-answer-to-anything-cartoon-towers-on-the-other-hand/)
Voice and video conferencing       | Uberconference
Newsletter                         | [Ricardo Bueno](http://www.ricardobueno.com/running-a-paid-subscription/)
Fremium video subscription         | Twitch.tv, [YouTube](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/3249127)


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
-----------

Models                            | Examples
:---------------------------------|:------------------
Consulting                        | Red Hat, Nginx, Revsys
Support                           | 
Hosting/Infrastructure            | WordPress
Free for some, but not for others |
Ads                               | Mozilla
Bundled features (e.g. search)    | Mozilla, Opera