Ask HN: Is Web 2.0 just ads?

4 points·hellolemon··6 comments

Facebook, Google, and Netflix all seem to use ads as a source of revenue. Even Apple is looking to build their ad business. To me, it seems the business model is just ads for Web 2.0.

I don’t count gig economy because those are subsidized by VC money and they lose more money than they earn.

View on HN

Ads were a big part of Web 1.0 as well. Any free content, even from a news site, needs a funding source. Thats why physical newspapers used them before the internet was invented.

Web 2.0 is defined by uploads: user-generated content. Users visit the site to see what other users have added.

> Ads were a big part of Web 1.0 as well.

...and publishing, and TV, and radio...

I think the other thing that is tied to the 1.0-2.0 evolution is that with increased user generated data (because of these uploads) the surveillance economy model for revenue exploded. In web 1.0 you really couldn't get enough information from simple search tracking for a valuable dataset, but once folks started blogging and using social media, there was a much bigger signal to monetize.

By definition, this came after the 2.0 transition, so maybe call it Web2.5?

Ads are the main business model for the Web (some Web 2.0 sites use(d) freemium) but ads aren't the definition of Web 2.0.

Well let’s see.

Step 1) Provide a free service that will attract millions of users

Step 2) Track users and sell their attention to ad buyers.

Lots of internet businesses would have a hard time surviving without the ads business model.

It isn’t the definition but it sure seems like a huge integral part of it in reality.

On a long enough timeline, every company becomes an AD company.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com