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Freemium is a pricing strategy by which a product or service (typically a digital offering or application such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, but money (premium) is charged for proprietary features, functionality, or virtual goods.〔JLM de la Iglesia, JEL Gayo, "''Doing business by selling free services''". Web 2.0: The Business Model, 2008. Springer〕〔Tom Hayes, "''Jump Point: How Network Culture is Revolutionizing Business''". 2008. Page 195.〕 The word "freemium" is a portmanteau neologism that was coined by Jarid Lukin in 2006. == Origin == The business model called shareware has been in use for software (crippleware or freeware) since the 1980s, particularly in the form of a free time- or feature-limited ("lite") version, often given away on a floppy disk or CD-ROM, to promote a paid-for full version. The model is particularly suited to software as the cost of distribution is negligible, so little is lost by giving it away for free – as long as significant cannibalization is avoided. The term ''freemium'' to describe this model appears to have been created only much later, in response to a 2006 blog post by venture capitalist Fred Wilson summarizing the model:〔 Give your service away for free, possibly ad supported but maybe not, acquire a lot of customers very efficiently through word of mouth, referral networks, organic search marketing, etc., then offer premium priced value added services or an enhanced version of your service to your customer base. Jarid Lukin of Alacra, one of Wilson's portfolio companies, then suggested the term "freemium" for this model. In 2009, Chris Anderson published the book ''Free'', which examines the popularity of this business model. As well as for traditional software and services, it is now also often used by Web 2.0 and open source companies. In 2014, Eric Seufert published the book ''Freemium Economics'', which attempts to deconstruct the economic principles of the freemium model and prescribe a framework for implementing them into software products. The freemium model is closely related to tiered services. It has become a highly popular model, with notable examples including LinkedIn, Badoo, and in the form of a "soft" paywall, such as those employed by ''The New York Times'' and by Press+. A freemium model is sometimes used to build a consumer base when the marginal cost of producing extra units is low. Cloud service providers – ranging from Infrastructure providers (IaaS), platform providers (PaaS) to software service providers (SaaS) – use freemium pattern in their business models. Companies such as Rackspace, Heroku, and Amazon use freemium business patterns by providing cloud services for free, but in limited and trial use. Amazon, for example, allows anyone to create a simple cloud in their infrastructure as a trial service for 12 months. Other examples include free-to-play games – video games that can be downloaded without paying. Video game publishers of free-to-play games rely on other means to generate revenue – such as optional in-game items that can be purchased by players to enhance game-play and/or aesthetics. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「freemium」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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