Limits of the “Free” Internet
“Free” is the most important keyword on the World Wide Web. It implies “free of charge”. Babbel has been “free” in this sense for almost two years. More than 500,000 users have registered for the platform. Now, with the release of Babbel 2.0, we start charging. Why? Might this seem unfair? Shouldn’t the internet – and education in general – be free for all? So many other sites seem to show that this model works.
Our plan, in fact, was to partially finance Babbel with advertising. We intended to provide a “freemium” product that would have a basic version that was public, while providing additional premium content for those who might want to dig deeper. But now we see this just doesn’t work. It simply is not possible to build a high-quality online learning environment while simultaneously selling ad space effectively.We tried to bring these two objectives together. But ultimately we had to accept that a business model appropriate for social networks and news services is plain wrong when applied to online education.
Babbel is now one of the first online services to decisively abandon this antiquated idea of “free”. We certainly still want to make the world – or at least the internet – a better place, but we no longer think that we can do so using online advertising. In this (admittedly epic) blog post I’d like to give some background about our decision and some words on some related, internet-wide changes.
Free as in “Free Sharing” or as in “Freebie”?
The internet does provide a number of highly valuable things for free. Software such as the Linux operating system or the Mozilla browser belongs to this category, as well as some online encyclopedias and communities. It’s wonderful how many useful things you can find online that are absolutely free. This is thanks to a combination of internet technology, on the one hand, and the selfless dedication and idealism of a great number of people all over the planet on the other.
But beyond these truly free services, there are a great number of websites, as well as search engines, free mail, and a good portion of online dictionaries and social networks, that are sponsored by ads. In contrast to Open Source software and Creative Commons, where developers and authors often work for free, ad-sponsored services are designed to make money – and they do.
What’s Wrong with Ads?
Of course, making money is not necessarily a bad thing. But ads can have drawbacks for users of these sites, some of which are obvious and some of which are not so apparent.
The most striking downside of advertising is the ads themselves. They have to attract attention, so they are flashy. They are constantly evolving to keep us from becoming immune to them. The objective is consistently to draw our attention away from other things like news or blog posts and to make us read, click and interact with more ad content and, ultimately, buy a product. Advertising’s main strategy is interruption. And interruption is what we at Babbel are trying to avoid.
Yet another aspect of online ads is that they don’t have to get everybody’s attention. They can focus on a specific target group. So besides making ads more attractive, promoters and engineers are working to “target” them to those who are most likely to respond (i.e. to buy). To do this, user data has to be collected, processed, and analyzed. This data analysis doesn’t harm people per se, but more and more internet users want to protect their privacy and are justifiably feeling uneasy about it. I must admit I feel a bit uneasy myself when I see how much it is possible to know about the users of your website when their personal data is what you’re after.
But there is another, more insidious, drawback of ad-sponsoring that is less visible to the naked eye: the true customers of these ad-sponsored services are not the users but rather the advertisers. And as everywhere else, the Customer is King. This means that these services are not optimized for the best use-value but for the best click-rates and advertising revenue. Of course, users need to be brought back to the website somehow in order to see the ads and to click on them… but that is just a means to another end.
Strictly Commercial
These downsides of ad-sponsoring are especially problematic in a learning application. If we want to build a new kind of learning environment that really works, we simply cannot let the learner’s attention consistently get drawn away. We don’t want to spend our engineering resources on ad targetting, but rather on improving the Refresher and Recommendation systems. Most of all, we need our customer to be the learner.
Our idea is to create a new kind of online learning system that adjusts itself to the needs of the learner and makes it easy to comprehend new subject matter without too much effort. This has yet to be done successfully, and we have no real role model we can emulate or by whom we can “be inspired”. It’s pioneering work, and it requires expertise to be constantly rethought and redone.
To significantly improve our service and to approach that user-centered learning environment we’re dreaming of, we’ve put together an extensive team of professionals from different disciplines. Software developers and internet specialists work side by side with more than 20 teachers and language experts. Simultaneously, we are striving to make this complex application easy to use and more or less imperceptible behind the content.
So yes, Babbel 2.0 is commercial. This means that we want to – and have to – make a living from of it. We’ve got some financing and loans, but ultimately, we have to pay our own bills. And it seems that advertising is the wrong way to do this.
Because we deliver Babbel over the internet and don’t have so many variable costs per user, we can keep the price relatively low. Instead of charging more than a hundred Euros per product, as many learning software companies do, Babbel goes for a price of €4.95 to €8.95 per month. That’s affordable for anyone who wants to learn a new language. Also, we make it a point to have fair conditions. There are no hidden costs or implicit commitments. Users can cancel their membership at any time without any unpleasant surprises.
Internet Beyond the Advertising Industry: Will this be Web 3.0?
It’s clear that we are breaking a taboo. Many internet users think that all online services should be free. A lot of them will be angered by our change in strategy. But we’re convinced this will be the best way. As a matter of fact, we think it brings with it a lot of exciting opportunities.
As the internet plays an increasingly important role in all our lives, unreliable quality becomes more and more of an issue. If we use the internet for our basic everyday needs, we can’t afford to waste time comparing and verifying information and stitching together our own services. We need quality delivered steadily and without distraction. Again, this is especially true for online education.
This is why paid services have a great future. The demand for high-quality services and providers who don’t monetize user data is rising. After the huge wave of ad-sponsored “Web 2.0″ websites, these new business models might be the core of what could be “Web 3.0.”
Paid services are particularly advantageous for small providers and start-ups because you don’t need to reach a “critical mass”. You can survive on the subscriptions of your customers, even if you have a comparably small niche market. That’s why this potential Web 3.0 could be more diverse – and less monopolistic – than what we see now. Babbel 2.0 is one step in that direction. We hope that many users take that step with us.
New Funding for a New Babbel
Babbel is changing – for the better. With the just-announced funding of one million Euros from the EU’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the State of Berlin, we have plans to expand through 2011 in technology and content. This means new and improved vocabulary packages, Beginners’ Courses, grammar lessons and an even better learning experience. The funds will be complemented by 200,000 Euros of our own.
In contrast with various other online learning platforms, Babbel.com is completely ad-free. The idea is to keep up the quality of the content with an eye to Babbel.com’s 500,000+ users, and not to advertisers. Not exceptionally in the world of young internet companies, up until now our earnings have been significantly less than our expenses. With the help of venture capital and the appeal of a completely revamped platform, we’re looking toward a unique and exciting new future for language learning on the internet.
Get Started with Spanish
Beginners in Spanish can finally say gracias. There is now a full, Online Course on Babbel.com that will teach you all the basics you need to get by anywhere in the Spanish-speaking world, from Barcelona to Santiago to downtown Los Angeles. Developed from proven print materials and adapted for the internet with Babbel.com’s consistent focus on fun and accessibility, “Spanish – Get Started” makes for one of the more effective ways to learn Spanish around — online or off.
The course is a one-time price of 19 Euros / 24 US Dollars, but try out an entire introductory Tutorial for free to get a taste here.
“Spanish – Get Started” is the first full Online Course available on Babbel for speakers of English. There is also a full Spanish course available for German speakers.
Full English Grammar Course Online
Economies may grow or contract, travel may fluctuate or decline, but one thing seems to stay constant around the world: People want to learn English. Their motivation varies. It may be a matter of career, an aching to sing along with current music, or just the desire to engage in an international dialogue that, like it or not, is often going on in what has become a de facto lingua franca. But learning English is still tough, and let’s face it, can be kind of boring – especially when it comes to sorting out the finer points of speaking correctly.
But we at Babbel.com have perhaps done the impossible: we’ve made learning English grammar fun. Based on tried-and-true materials by the respected British publisher Collins, we’ve created a full, interactive online course that is not only modern and effective, but virtually pain-free. “English Grammar: Practise the Basics” uses our unique, intuitive and entertaining approach to help those still in the early stages to build their skills and confidence – at their own pace, without the expected hair-tearing or embarrassment.
We also understand that often a major discouragement for learners is the cost of quality teaching. That’s why we’re offering access to the course – currently made up of 20 tutorials and constantly growing. It’s available anywhere, anytime, and can be canceled whenever. There’s an introductory trial tutorial, “This or That,” for free, and then a 20-day money-back guarantee. Click here, register easily if you haven’t already – don’t forget to set your learning language to English – and try out the free preview. For our press release, click here.
“Highly Commended” by TechCrunch
After being selected in the short lists in two categories for the TechCrunch Europas awards, Babbel was “highly commended” in the category “Best Design”. We’re very proud, especially because we didn’t ever think of Babbel as eye candy. Instead, we try to keep the user interface clean and simple.
Mini-Vocab Packages for the Last Minute Language Learner
There’s always a little bit of anxiety that comes along with traveling abroad, whether for business or for pleasure. Possible scenario, night before — for example — the flight to Berlin, a sudden pang: “Oh right, they speak German in Germany, and I don’t even know how to say ‘how are you’. How am I going to manage to order my morning coffee?!?”
We at Babbel have now developed a stress-reducing linguistic survival kit (and perhaps path to that caffeine fix in a foreign country) for the last-minute language learner: the Mini-Vocab Package. Compiled especially for the spontaneous traveler, it offers essential words and phrases – in German, French, Spanish, Italian and English – to get through that first encounter with the locals unscathed.
For those who’ve got a little more time before the big trip, besides the Mini-Vocab, there are twenty other in-depth packages for all relevant situations while traveling, from leaving the airport to arriving at the car rental desk. There is of course also the opportunity to hook up with someone from Babbel’s now more than 350,000-strong community to chat, trade travel tips or set up a language exchange.
To go directly to the newly compiled Mini-Vocab package, click here. If you are not already registered at Babbel, after a quick and easy registration you will be taken straight through to travel vocabulary. For our press release, click here.
Nominated For TechCrunch Awards
Babbel’s up for “Best European Web Application or Service” and “Best Design” at TechCrunch’s award The Europas. TechCrunch wants to determine the most innovative tech companies and startups across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Voting closed on Wednesday, July 1st so let’s see what the results are. Thanks to all who voted for Babbel!
Update July 6th: Babbel made it into the shortlist in both categories, “Best Design” and “Best Web Application Or Service”. Thanks to everyboy who voted!
Fiery Tongues on Pfingsten
Monday in Germany will be a day off. It’s Pfingsten.
In England known as Whitsun, or in the US as Pentecost, we at Babbel thought this was worth giving a mention since it’s got to do with some business that concerns us: Speaking in many languages.
It’s celebrated 50 days after the resurrection of Christ (Easter), and around the time of the Jewish festival called Shavuot, which celebrates Moses receiving the ten commandments at Mount Sinai. Pfingsten signals the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and gave them the ability to understand and speak all languages. According to the Bible, they went out into Jerusalem prophesying and speaking in languages that all the people in Jerusalem could understand — also known as speaking in tongues.
New Vocab Package “Politics and Voting” in time for EU Elections
Though we at Babbel are of course internationally minded and outward-looking, we can’t deny that we’re based in Europe — in Berlin, to be exact. The languages we teach — English, French, Spanish, German and Italian — are largely represented in Europe, and among our over 300,000 users, there are more than a few Europeans too. So we thought it would be a good idea to get you in the Babbel community prepared for next week’s European Parliament elections with a special vocabulary package. Called “Politics and Voting,” it will teach you all the important phrases and terms to debate and make a choice about the European Union’s future…. whether you’re in a position to vote or you just want to persuade your European tandem partner!
Since 2002, the European Union has been officially urging every student in the continent to start learning a foreign language as early as possible. They’ve pursued a number of projects with the goal of extending the benefits of lifelong foreign language learning to every European citizen, improving the quality of language education, and achieving a language-friendly environment for all. Sounds a bit like Babbel.com, right? Read our press release here.
Babbel.com at Next ’09
We’re very pleased that we’ve been selected to present for the start-up track this year at Next09, which will take place in Hamburg May 5 and 6. Next is an annual networking and trend conference for the European web industry.
The theme of the conference this year really resounds with Babbel: the idea is “Shared Economy”. The basic concept is that the more businesses share their success, the more they can ultimately profit – an idea the we too share! Markus Witte, Managing Director and one of our founders, will present Babbel to some of the other 1500 participants, familiarizing them with our experiments with a “freemium” model and the fun of learning while helping one another out on the Babbel platform.
