Do you have any idea? HOW DO THEY EARN MONEY?

Ive always been wondering how those people in the internet, who were giving FREE softwares and FREE informations to people, EARN MONEY? How do they gain by giving FREE?

please tell me..

Giving something for FREE is actually a good business model on the Web. It attracts visitors and allows them to try out your products and services for free. Sites that use this business model earns by:

1. Advertising -- example is About.com, which offers free information on a wide variety of topics. They earn through their Google Adsense program, their banner ads, their own sponsorships and other advertising mechanisms.

2. Free for basic, but paid for premium -- example is Skype.com which allows users to communicate on the Net to other places or countries for free. They offer their basic services for free, but charge for premium services such as calling a landline number, etc.

advertisers

Much "free software" has one or more: 1) embedded advertisement, 2) spyware - which is used to monitor and change your buying behavior, 3) is just a scaled down "demo" version of the real thing they want you to buy, or some other come on to get you to buy something.

Much of the "free information" is just a huge advertisement for what they are really trying to sell you. They are designed to convey enough information to get you interested and motivated to buy the real service.