> How is this worth it for Google? Anytime you find yourself asking "why is big company X giving away Y for free?" the answer is usually that they're commoditi

> How is this worth it for Google? Anytime you find yourself asking "why is big company X giving away Y for free?" the answer is usually that they're commoditizing their complements: http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/StrategyLetterV.html Virtually everything Google gives away for free follows this pattern.