signor_john - 4:27 pm on Dec 4, 2008 (gmt 0)

Google on the other hand only has the single source of revenue

Just wait. Think of Google's opportunities for selling corporate intelligence and consulting services.

Let's say you're Air Widgetonia, and you're planning for the summer 2009 vacation season. You won't know what demand by leisure travelers will be on the Chicago-Widget City route until people start searching for fares. Google, on the other hand, has data on Widget City destination searches that may occur several months before travelers reach the point of booking airline tickets and hotel rooms. Google can tell you the number of people in the Chicago airline market who made destination searches on a "market basket" of undisclosed keywords related to Widget City and Widgetonia from home in January, and how that number compares with the same period last year.

The same data might be of interest to other companies, such as investment firms that watch airline stocks.

This could be a real opportunity for Google--either through a business unit within the company or via partnership arrangements with the big international corporate consulting firms.