Without search engines the web wouldn't scale

1. No incentive in creating content unless it can be easily found - other finding methods haven't kept pace (taxonomies, bookmarks, etc)
2. The web is both a technology artifact and a social environment
   • The Web has become the new normal in the American way of life; those who don't go online constitute an ever-shrinking minority. = [Pew Foundation report, January 2005]
3. Search engines make aggregation of interest possible:
   • Create incentives for very specialized niche players
     • Economical - specialized stores, providers, etc
     • Social - narrow interests, specialized communities, etc
4. The acceptance of search interaction makes unlimited selection stores possible:
   • Amazon, Netflix, etc
5. Search turned out to be the best mechanism for advertising on the web, a $15+ B industry.
   • Growing very fast but entire US advertising industry $250B - huge room to grow
   • Sponsored search marketing is about $10B