It was all considered risky and niche (anything on the internet). What made the free web possible was first and foremost, access to it. Then, probably a combi

It was all considered risky and niche (anything on the internet). What made the free web possible was first and foremost, access to it. Then, probably a combination of technological, cultural, and economic factors and the human beings behind the scenes who worked to either create software to give it away or to make money with ads by creating foobar service. Yes, free software, and yes, because of advertising. It’s both.