Some of the value of Alexa or GMail goes beyond direct dollars brought in. The Washington Post loses money, but its value goes beyond subscription and advertising revenue. The Dodge Viper lost money as a model, but helped restore the lustre of the entire Dodge brand.
If people aren’t using Alexa, the might get Next or iHome or whatever. It is about getting people to buy into your ecosystem. Sometimes the monetization part comes later. When Google bought YouTube, it was a very popular money loser. Not anymore.
“The Dodge Viper lost money as a model, but helped restore the lustre of the entire Dodge brand.”
Wait. Dodge has lustre?
It’s probably not costing Google Amazon anything material. I’d bet that some TLA is pumping funds in to enable spying.