Big tech business models and revenue streams

What you’ll learn about Big Tech revenue

Big Tech looks simple on the surface, but most companies run multiple business models at once—often with one segment subsidizing another. This quiz helps you connect products, users, and incentives to the revenue streams behind them.

Each question gives 4 options and there’s no timer, so you can think through trade-offs like margin vs. growth, or ads vs. subscriptions. You can also choose your question count and difficulty to match a quick refresher or a full mixed challenge.

Skills you’ll practice

You’ll practice identifying primary vs. secondary revenue streams, understanding platform dynamics, and recognizing how bundling and ecosystem lock-in affect monetization. Expect a balanced mix: straightforward “what makes money here?” items plus trickier scenarios involving cross-subsidies and multi-sided markets.

• Mapping products to monetization (ads, cloud, hardware, fees, subscriptions)
• Distinguishing B2B vs. B2C revenue logic and unit economics
• Spotting marketplace take rates and payment/transaction fee patterns
• Understanding freemium, bundling, and price discrimination basics
• Recognizing data/network effects as enablers (not always direct revenue)

Common pitfalls (and how this quiz avoids them)

A frequent mistake is assuming user growth equals revenue, or that “data” is a revenue stream by itself rather than an input that improves targeting, retention, or pricing. Another trap is mixing up revenue with profit—high revenue segments can be low margin (and vice versa).

Difficulty is balanced by mixing quick recognition questions with deeper reasoning prompts, and by varying how the same model appears across different companies. If you want a smoother ramp, pick an easier difficulty first; for a realistic interview-style challenge, keep it mixed and increase the question count.