No ads.

At least according to the story in the Globe.

United Online isn’t offsetting its costs by making users look at advertising, as it did with its original offer of free dial-up Internet access. The “free’’ users will be money-losers for the company, said Mark Goldston, United Online chairman and chief executive. That means United Online is using the free plan as a way to lure customers with the hope of upselling them to paying plans, which start at $9.95 per month.


I think they want to get you hooked, run up your data, and at 199 MB you will want to cough up the $10 to get to 500 MB. The catch, of course, is

If they switch to a paid plan, they won’t be able switch back to the free one.

It's the drug dealer mentality, get them hooked for free, and once the habit gets the best of them and they can't live with the free stuff anymore, sell them the upgrade. Cut off their free stuff and they are hooked.