Stuff like this should be opt-in. And, if you want it to succeed, it should be good enough that people want to opt-in.
People search on Google -- they opt-in to Google Search -- because the results satisfy them (more than the competition).
If Canonical's partners want people to opt-in to their collaborative offerings, they should make them offer significant value. And Canonical, for its part, if they want to successfully build out this revenue stream, should ensure that they partner with partners who demonstrably do so.
I already use affiliate links when I think that the affiliate has given me something of value [1], in discovery or qualified opinion or some other combination of factors.
I think Canonical provides me and the broader community things of significant value. Offer a monetization scheme that is 1) opt in, and 2) Respects my concerns, e.g. privacy, and I would be consciously, favorably inclined to use it.
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[1] One example, although Amazon may not particularly like this one:
>People search on Google -- they opt-in to Google Search -- because the
results satisfy them (more than the competition).
Um, no. A lot of people don't even know there is competition to Google. They
don't "opt-in" to Google just as much as they don't "opt-in" to using Windows,
they've just always used it because it comes with their browser/PC. There's a
reason Google pays Mozilla a few million every year to be the default search
engine.
People search on Google -- they opt-in to Google Search -- because the results satisfy them (more than the competition).
If Canonical's partners want people to opt-in to their collaborative offerings, they should make them offer significant value. And Canonical, for its part, if they want to successfully build out this revenue stream, should ensure that they partner with partners who demonstrably do so.
I already use affiliate links when I think that the affiliate has given me something of value [1], in discovery or qualified opinion or some other combination of factors.
I think Canonical provides me and the broader community things of significant value. Offer a monetization scheme that is 1) opt in, and 2) Respects my concerns, e.g. privacy, and I would be consciously, favorably inclined to use it.
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[1] One example, although Amazon may not particularly like this one:
http://us.camelcamelcamel.com/