[somethoughts]

I think its instructive to look at the early history of Google and Facebook. In the early years they did not really turn on the ad revenue levers and just focused on increasing users (i.e. Don't Be Evil) - until a decade after offering their respective services.

Similarly Netflix is just now starting the ad revenue model after years of only subscription based services.

Eventually the temptation for multiple sources of revenue (i.e. subscription AND advertising) will likely be too great due to:

- IPO and Wall Street demands net income growth (i.e. FB/Google)

- Private Equity buys the company and needs to pay back leveraged debt

- The number of customers willing to offer up a credit card for Search stagnates and a lower cost ad tier appears and the ad infrastructure that is built is applied to the paid tiers

[squiggy22]

I'd argue the minute they turn to an advertising model that subscriptions would churn overnight, but in the same vein as the don't be evil motto being dropped I nod at the scepticism.