I don't believe this post tells the entire story. Adwords (advertising in general) is just one part of doing business in general. Other reasons that might explain the trends showcased:
- Businesses have cycles, maybe the author is experiencing the end of his software's business/product cycle. An 8 year period is considered by many an economic cycle. I certainly don't use the same software today as I did 8 years ago.
- During the past 8 years the business of software has completely changed: distribution, barriers to entry, platform (desktop/web/mobile), etc.
- Profitable businesses tend, over time, with no meaningful reinvestment, r&d, etc, produce marginal profits equal to zero.
- What are the software alternatives to the author's product/service? 8 years ago Encarta was "the" digital encyclopaedia, today it's Wikipedia.
- Adwords 8 years ago was a nascent ad platform, resulting in low cost due to low competing bids, today it's "the" most popular online ad platform.
These are just a few reasons behind these trends. Any other thoughts?
- Businesses have cycles, maybe the author is experiencing the end of his software's business/product cycle. An 8 year period is considered by many an economic cycle. I certainly don't use the same software today as I did 8 years ago.
- During the past 8 years the business of software has completely changed: distribution, barriers to entry, platform (desktop/web/mobile), etc.
- Profitable businesses tend, over time, with no meaningful reinvestment, r&d, etc, produce marginal profits equal to zero.
- What are the software alternatives to the author's product/service? 8 years ago Encarta was "the" digital encyclopaedia, today it's Wikipedia.
- Adwords 8 years ago was a nascent ad platform, resulting in low cost due to low competing bids, today it's "the" most popular online ad platform.
These are just a few reasons behind these trends. Any other thoughts?