Imagine if Google required you to be logged in before searching... do you think their revenue numbers would be anywhere near what they are? "Whoa there, matey!

Imagine if Google required you to be logged in before searching... do you think their revenue numbers would be anywhere near what they are? "Whoa there, matey! You're not logged in. We can't just let you see our advertising-laden stream, click on it, and create revenue for us without an account, you know... Please jump through a sign-up process, that's going to mean looking for a username you like that isn't taken, giving us your email address, logging into that to find the email confirmation link, and then coming back here, and then you can finish that search you were doing on a whim."