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"Who pays for all this stuff?" is the 64-billion-dollar question, isn’t it? The Internet is one of the true bargains of the 21st century. To get online, you probably have to pay AT&T, Comcast, Verizon, Mediacom, Evan, Cable One, CenturyLink, some other cable company, or another ISP a monthly fee. The fee you pay varies depending on the speed you want for your Internet connection and the services bundled with it, such as TV and online streaming subscriptions.

Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer are free, sorta, because they come with Windows 10, no matter which version you buy. Firefox is free as a breeze — in fact, it’s the poster child for open-source programs: Everything about the browser, even the program code itself, is free. Google Chrome and Opera are free, too. Both Microsoft, with Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer, and Google, with Chrome, keep tabs on where you go and what you do online — all the better to convince you to click an ad. Firefox collects some data, but its uses are limited. The same with Opera.

Others involved in your security may be selling your personal information. AVG, an antivirus of fame, announced in September 2015 that it would start selling browsing history data to advertisers. Avast — another free antivirus owned by the same company, has similar practices. Your ISP may be selling your data too.

Most websites don’t charge a cent. They pay for themselves in any of these ways:

 Contract advertising: Google has made a fortune. In 2019, advertising accounted for $134.81 billion in the company’s revenue.

 Use display advertising: Many sites run ads, most commonly from Google, but in some cases, selected from a pool of advertisers. The advertiser pays a bounty for each person who clicks the ad and views its website — a click-through.

 Use affiliate programs: Many sites may also participate in a retailer’s affiliate program. If a customer clicks through and orders something, the website that originated the transaction receives a percentage of the amount ordered. Amazon is well known for its affiliate program, but many others exist.

 Increase a company’s visibility: The website gives you a good excuse to buy more of the company’s products. This is why architectural firms show you pictures of their buildings and food companies post recipes.

 Reduce a company’s operating costs: Banks and brokerage firms, for example, have websites that routinely handle customer inquiries at a fraction of the cost of H2H (err, human-to-human) interactions.

 Draw in new business: Ask any real estate agent.

Some websites have an entrance fee. For example, if you want to read more than a few articles on The New York Times website, you have to part with some substantial coin — $12 for twelve weeks — for their most basic option, the last time I looked. Guess that beats schlepping around a whole lotta paper.