One of the reasons it is different this time, but still a bubble, is that there is tons of cheap money flowing around the globe, and sophisticated investors are

One of the reasons it is different this time, but still a bubble, is that there is tons of cheap money flowing around the globe, and sophisticated investors are desperately looking for returns. Hedge funds have had big outflows in the last 3 years. That (risk-seeking)money has to slosh somewhere. The total size of the hedge fund world is larger than in 1999-2000. Also, the concentration of advertising dollars that flows through a few key companies - Facebook, Google, Microsoft, etc., is significant. Ad spending basically drives this whole thing from the revenue side. In 1999 there was less of this money in absolute terms and also the ad and marketing folks had not yet learned how to target ads to users online. So ads + Quantitative Easing (hope I am not getting too fast and loose here but this is shorthand) means that worthless companies like Instagram can seem strategic to ad delivery platforms like Facebook. And there is so much extra risk capital chasing deals that $1B is nothing to throw away. PG has been in the right place at the right time, but just because he and his partners do things differently in their business does not mean that the macro picture is not the most important factor. edit - we have not matured we have just gotten better at online advertising and marketing. But that is arguably a great efficiency for the post-industrial service economy.