Click here, Click there, and anywhere

Ads. The number one revenue source for websites that deliver free web content to anywhere in the world. The bloggers publish an endless array of topics which could be counted as non revenue generating in the real world but if you put it up on the web, voila! Instant money. I admire the site owner who can generate so much money just by putting an ad on the website and then wait for the surfers to just click on it. Some people earn $10,000 a month or even a $100,000 and others less but everything would depend on your traffic.

Traffic. There are millions, probably billions of websites on the Internet but we hardly ever get to know more than the ten websites the average joe frequents. The Internet landscape is so cluttered that Google would probably not waste any money to pay the geniuses on coming up with an algorithms to create a directory for all the websites in the world. Their current search algorithms would depend on variables like your location, previous searches, links that you frequent etc. You can just input your search word and click on whatever sites the search engine gives back to you but you won't really go past page 3 if you get what you want right away. Everything is predetermined by math and calculus and whatever fancy science they use out there. There are no road maps to equal phone book directories on the web. If you're lucky and you've got the backing of the online community, maybe you will earn some money.

Money. They say it is what makes the world go 'round. I say, true. It is the seed in business and it is common sense that if you inject capital in your business you can generate revenue. The site owner would need the money to purchase bandwith and host their domains. They can then put in the ads along with the web content and just pray that somebody somewhere would click that moving car or that girl with the flowing dress so that they could paid. But what if nobody can find you? This is the problem that 1plusV, a French company, blames on Google. They say that Google made some of its sites impossible to find which led to lost ad revenue of $421 million. I just about said WHAT!?! That is a lot of money. (Duh.) I would be outraged if I had the same problem. They have a projected revenue but from what I've learned, this would only be considered an expectancy. Unfair competition or not, how did they expect to earn that much? Actuarial studies and projections are considered reliable tools on the profit projection but aren't people fickle? We can search for sites and they could turn up but who can say for certain that we will actually click on this or that? If Google did indeed make them invisible, then they are most probably liable for damages. But to ask for such a large amount bring me back to the conclusion that it is always about the money.

Entry # 2 Abigail Alameda