New Revenue Waves For Google

Three ways Google Wave could boost the Internet giant's bottom line.

BURLINGAME, Calif. -- Google hasn't yet finished previewing its new Wave collaboration tool, let alone given consumers full-blown access to it. But on Wednesday, Lars Rasmussen--one of the principle engineers behind Wave--hinted at how Google might monetize the tool.

Google ( GOOG - news - people ) Wave is a collaboration and communication tool that allows users to work on the same content object, dubbed a "wave," which can house both text and multimedia. Users can reply to messages and edit together in real-time. Beyond those features, developers can extend Wave's features through a programmable interface.

Rasmussen stressed that Google is, at this point, focused on polishing and popularizing the product, rather than figuring out how to monetize it. Still, he gave in to a tough line of questioning from reporters and hinted at three possible ways Google could monetize Wave once the product is fully baked.

One very real possibility: incorporating Wave into Google Apps for businesses, the suite of Web-based software tools that Google licenses to enterprises for $50 per user per year.

"We hope that will drive additional sales of that product," he says. "We were very positively surprised that our existing customers--and some enterprises that are not existing customers--have expressed some interest in trying out the tool."