The way I see it, the Internet has had three major business models:
1. Academia. Money is obtained from teaching and grants, which requires researchers, which requires publications, which can be made on the Internet.
2. Ads. Content and services attract users, ad networks pay for pixel space / clicks / views.
3. Payments. Users pay for content and services directly. They are otherwise in the deep web.
There are combinations (such as Premium, which is a mix of Ads and Payments), and marginal other models (such as donations, which are typically for free content and (yet rarer) services).
Considering I am running a successful donation-supported service, I can tell you it does not pay the bills. It merely sustains itself. Projects such as app.net show that even payment-based projects can be challenging.
1. Academia. Money is obtained from teaching and grants, which requires researchers, which requires publications, which can be made on the Internet.
2. Ads. Content and services attract users, ad networks pay for pixel space / clicks / views.
3. Payments. Users pay for content and services directly. They are otherwise in the deep web.
There are combinations (such as Premium, which is a mix of Ads and Payments), and marginal other models (such as donations, which are typically for free content and (yet rarer) services).
Considering I am running a successful donation-supported service, I can tell you it does not pay the bills. It merely sustains itself. Projects such as app.net show that even payment-based projects can be challenging.