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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.

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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 were a big part of Web 1.0 as well.

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

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