Google makes money?

I know that is a question many of us ask when it appears that everything is free from Google. While they do provide so many free services and products (mostly online and cloud based software), Google does actually make money and loads of it! Their biggest source of revenue is ads. Look at any search you do on Google, there are always sponsored ads right at the top. These ads generate all most all the revenue for Google. For each click that someone makes can bring in any where from $ 0.01 - $ 100.00 per click. Many do still question the value and roi (return on investment) for this pay per click model, but for Google so far it is what works for them.

What I found the most surprising is that Google makes next to nothing on the Android operating system that is so prevalent on many smart phones. The break down for how the cash gets dispersed is 70% goes to developers, with the remaining 30% split between the carriers and payment processors, what I found even more surprising is that Google doesn't even charge a licensing fee for the operating system. instead they once again rely on both ads and applications to generate revenue.

I find it interesting that until you actually pay attention Google's revenue model is some what stealthy in its approach. Relying on all of our collective eyeballs to generate money is something that isn't unique to the ad world, the ability to make it less obtrusive to the user is probably one of its greatest assets. By using our searches to apply values to search terms is something that is totally unique to a web based business.