Map mash-ups are the lab for Web 2.0 business models because web services integration here is so pervasive. Since we started Platial at the end of '95 our peers (and investors) wanted to know how we could monetize it. Only a year into it, it has become clearer but is still an experiment in an evolving new economy.

The simplicity of the buyer/seller dynamic is incomplete as more and more people contribute value along the path. How do individual mash-up makers (platial.com/baostar), local businesses (pizza parlors), base map providers (Google/Yahoo!), social mapping platforms (Platial), and people who distribute our widgets (bloggers) all make money? Is there enough to go around? Does it matter? Where are we on the path to profitability?

We'll review a small amount of new economic mash-up theory, case studies (January 2007, we'll break even), and near-term and longer-term models in development.