Recently I had the task of cleaning a bunch of computers with virus, spyware, adware, etc. (at the end everything is malware). For this task, I used these tools AVG Free Antivirus, Spybot Search and Destroy, some Googling and (a new tool in my arsenal) SuperAntiSpyware. In the middle of the mess I ask myself two questions:

What is the difference today between virus, spyware, worm, trojan, etc. I mean I know the difference in theory but in practice they all come together into one name: malware. It’s amusing to see how antivirus companies now developed anti-spyware functionalities in their software and vice verse. And still we call it anti-spyware and anti virus.

I used the free basic version of the three products and they did a great job, so the second question was why should I (or anybody else) bother to buy the “pro” version? If the free version is so good, who buys the paid or pro version?

From the first question you can guess I’m not average computer user, if you didn’t figure that out, well I’m telling you: I’m not an average computer user. I guess if you can clean up Vundo from a computer that is enough evidence. Trying to answer that question I figure out that maybe people try the product, like it and are not “expert” enough to rely on the free version so they buy the pro version. Then again the average user likes to buy products it trusts and the average user generally trusts brands that the now, even if the products is not as good as the this other companies offering free basic products. So I ended up in the same place, how do they money, who are the customers that pay. To find more about that

However if you surf around their page a bit more and click on a couple of links, you will notice their different revenue model and tell you a lot of the company. AVG has a more professional look and feel, they have the free version for personal use and then they have the pro version with a subscription up to 2 years.

In contrast Spybot S&D of Safer Networking has a donate button, provides live phone support for a fee and even has t-shirts for sale for their loyal customers. This says a lot of who they target? Will you buy a Spybot t-shirt from them because you think their product is great, or for any valid reason where you will spend at least 14.95 USD, plus tax and shipping? If you say no, then ask yourself if you know somebody that will buy that t-shirt.

SuperAntiSpyware, the name sound so cheap, even it sound like it was spyware. The web page is not as nice and clean as the AVG site and like Safer Networking they are in the business of doing great software that works. SuperAntiSpyware takes a bit from the other two mention above, it has a pro version witch sells and also has a donate button to support the free version.

There is a saying “there is no such thing as a free lunch” and that is how the free business model works, somebody else pays for what you are getting for free. Now in the case of this three companies who is paying for that, in other words who are the paying customers? The best thing I could do is make an educated guess. In the case of AVG are small business or customers that don’t mind paying extra. With Spybot S&D, its different because it’s not a prevention software, its a removal one, so users are more tech savy and loyal that will even buy t-shirts. The Spybot S&D people have develop so many good tools, that they have gain credibility and at the end of the day what they end up selling is consultancy hours. In the case of  SuperAntiSpyware, honestly I don’t have no idea, haven’t used enough or see it change over time to even guess.

Even if we can’t now who really pay the bills over and over again, here are some important things to take notice off:

• Internet helps drop the costs, so you can afford to give a basic free version.
• It’s similar to sales, the more phone calls you make a day the higher the probability that you will make a sale. Using this same logic the more downloads or page visits you get, the higher is the probability that somebody will pay for your “pro” version.
• Target a niche market, only way to not be crushed
• Business have more money than consumers, so it’s easier for them to pay you, meaning that maybe a somebody from the tech department downloads your free version, but is so happy with it that recomends it to be bought for this company.
• No point in trying to be the next Facebook, Google, etc. the point here is to get N number of customers that will pay and comeback for more and pay some more.
• Finally get your 1000 true fans or customers and your in good hands