On the "giving it away as a business strategy"-front, check out this WSJ article on Google offering a free tool to measure web hits. I quote, "Existing ad-serving systems don't currently provide detailed Web-audience data about the sites where they place ads. By giving away the new tool, Google could presumably attract more ad business."
You charge companies to serve their ads, but at the same time, you provide them with free intelligence about where those ads will best perform, which encourages them to use your ad-serving service. Etc.
I think they call that a "virtuous circle," though Google's competitors may call that a "death spiral."
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