This morning, some interesting news hit the wires: Microsoft announced that it will shut down Skype on May 5, 2025.
Skype is a very special brand for AM Navigator. It was our very first major client. Launched in 2003, Skype quickly gained momentum, and wishing to continue the up-and-to-the-right trend, they contacted us to take their business to a new level through affiliate marketing. In late 2006, we had an in-person in London, after which AM Navigator was contracted to build Skype’s newly-launched affiliate marketing program.
Those were still the early days of affiliate marketing, and I was at the helm of this client’s affiliate program, personally building both the program and Skype’s brand. It was a fun ride that eventually led to Skype’s acquisition by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion.
Fast-forward nine years, and the COVID-19 pandemic hits the world. By then, Skype’s share of the market had already shrunk substantially. The world was already actively using such smartphone-native apps as FaceTime, WhatsApp, Viber, and even Telegram. Furthermore, we already had Zoom and Microsoft Teams launched by Skype’s parent company in late 2016.
Unlike its aforementioned competitors, Skype did not come out of the pandemic as a winner. It’s been fading out before our very eyes. So, today’s news is hardly a surprise.
It’s bittersweet news for AM Navigator, nonetheless.
Goodbye, Skype, and thank you for helping us prove, in your early days, how potent affiliate marketing can be for building a brand. The rest of your story is soon to become history.
