They didn’t “build” their business model on it so much as “clung desperately onto the only lifeline in existence to avoid drowning in debt”.

There really isn’t a plan b, it’s not like they’re refusing to switch to the obviously better business models out there that could replace their search money. There just aren’t many business models that can maintain the development costs of a web browser and engine.

Great game! Just be glad you don’t have to swap the cd every 20 clicks. Riven was basically 1 disc per cutscene when it first came out and I remember getting very frustrated as a kid when I accidentally triggered an island switch and knew it’d be 10 minutes until I could get back.