New Wave Utility

I often wonder how Google makes money. I use Google all the time and have never spent a cent on it. I suppose I read a few advertisements here and there. Maybe I bought something small at one point from an online ad, but I seriously doubt it. How then, does Google justify offering all these free services like a search engine, blogger, and gmail, for free?

Here is a good explanation: they are a “New Wave Utility.”

One of the issues in being a utility -

14. May have to maintain service even in areas/categories where it is unprofitable in order to maintain taken-for-granted ubiquity and stability

Makes sense to me.

I found this post through Virginia Postrel. She argues Amazon made a mistake with their MacMillan negotiations because they confused themselves with being a retailer when they are actually a utility. Smart, eh.