There's a difference between making revenue and making a profit. While I won't argue your assertion that it's easy to find revenue sources when you're popular,

There's a difference between making revenue and making a profit. While I won't argue your assertion that it's easy to find revenue sources when you're popular, I'd appreciate seeing some hard evidence that it's also easy to pay all the bills. That del.icio.us, flickr and YouTube were all acquired and were all at one point rumored to be bleeding money for their parent company doesn't bode well for the average "free" service.