Back in the late '90s and early 2000s, Hotmail was the king of free email services. It was a pioneer in the era of web-based email, allowing users to check their inbox from any computer ...

The free version of Microsoft features a 15-second ad that plays every few hours and locks away useful features behind a paywall.

To receive full access to Campaign's content including: Unrestricted access to all The Information and The Knowledge content Access to Campaign's in-depth features and coveted reports including ...

which was over 100 times what you would get for free from Hotmail or Yahoo. The catch at the time was that you could only get in with an invite, which promptly flooded eBay and commanded a premium ...