An example is a business with a high-traffic, database-based web site.

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We also take a look at this week's announcement that Spotify, the hot-as-fire music-streaming site, is opening up its massive database of songs to outside app developers.

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Like coupons, the real money of the model is probably in infrastructure and database management, not owning a dedicated front-end site.

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They founded gdgt as a product-focused site in 2008 and, over the ensuing years, transformed it into a comprehensive database of the world's gadgetry, all that backed by an active community of people brought together by an innate love for the hottest in tech.

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Many bundling arrangements take the form of site-licensing agreements, under which companies or other organisations pay a single fee for unlimited online access to a database, say, or a software package.

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