I read an article pertaining to a similar topic to this about why, for the most part, all the services that Google offers the public are free and it really is t

I read an article pertaining to a similar topic to this about why, for the most part, all the services that Google offers the public are free and it really is the fact that Google, at its heart, is a marketing firm first. Every feature they offer you is designed not to generate profit so much as it is to keep you with them. By giving away their services for free it obviously increases their brand name, encourages brand loyalty, but also levels the playing field. They set the bar by offering these services for free. No one will pay for a service that is at least comparably offered for free. For this reason if Google makes gmail free then every other website has to offer their mail services for free, the same goes with Google Calendars, and all of the other apps they offer. Why would they want everyone to offer their apps for free? Because then the difference between them and Yahoo or Bing or any other site is on marketing abilities and few companies in the world come close to challenging Google's marketing capabilities.