How do popular free sites, make so much money?

[Bunniesss]

Such as google and facebook.
Do those small ads on the right of the page on google or facebook, get them so much money?
Also seeing how facebook has so much users and was made with PHP..doesnt it still need alot of money to pay for all the database space. I dont get it.

[Trevor]

Yes the ads make the money.

However it is interesting to note that while Twitter and Youtube are huge sites and are worth a huge amount they actually loose money. That's right they are not in any way profitable. It is their huge online presence and potential to one day turn over big profits that keeps the companies alive.

Another interesting thing to look at is the information these companies get. Much of it ends up being sold to third parties, so be aware of that.