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The Google Way
book

The Google Way

by Bernard Girard
April 2009
Intermediate to advanced content levelIntermediate to advanced
256 pages
5h 53m
English
No Starch Press
Content preview from The Google Way

Two-Sided Markets

Search engines, which finance free search results by selling advertising, use what economists call a two-sided market (sometimes called a double-sided market). All media—including television, radio, magazines, and newspapers—would be far more expensive if it weren't for advertising revenues. Other business sectors apply similar techniques: Your credit card appears to be free (or almost free) when you use it for purchases, but the merchant accepting the card pays a fee to the company that issued it and you, of course, pay interest if you carry a balance.

In every case—search engine, newspaper, or credit card—the company offers its products or services to two markets: reader and advertiser or customer and merchant. The more subscriptions ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781593271848Errata