2 ms·

It's really the only business model that ended up working for the Internet at a large scale, at least on the consumer side.

• asark 7y ago
  On the contrary, I think its existence suppresses other business models, by being somewhat more efficient (at concentrating money, that is). The coupling of a scummy ad business model with incredibly large caches of personal data turns out to provide a huge moat against both direct (ad space) and indirect (other business models providing services) competitors, by allowing slightly more effective ads (counters direct competitors) and extra convenience to users (suppresses other business models) while also being "free" (again, suppresses other business models).