true. it's incremental innovation. However, they're bad at it too IMHO. Search hasn't changed since they've launched. And even then, they had nothing new..Their new algorithm..blahh. Using microcomputers for search processing. Thats the startup thinking, alright, cut all the costs, do it cheaper, do it better. There is no recipe, but they hit the right time. Thats what they did right, recognize the moment. However, google search sucks, and it sucks badly. Crawlers are as bad as spam. It clogs up. It's inefficient...and Google is too big to do anything about it, it's victim of its own size. There ARE better ways. I miss those days when we pulled hair by trying to save a KB in the mem.. efficiency and efficacy for their own sake.
Regarding the 100/month, my starting point is that you've gotta live anyway, regardless where your efforts are. I understand your view, I am trying to change it in self, and found that I approach my business efforts with much higher perseverance... = I am doing it no matter what, and I will find the cheapest way to do it, it's worth it!
Good Luck!