How will Google Wave make money?

Since Google has given a demo of Google Wave, the internet has be abuzz about Google Wave being the next big thing on the web. The excitement was great and sometimes a little premature as many have exclaimed that Google Wave might change the internet as we know it. The question that lingered in my mind was how was Wave going to be be monetized?

How is Google going to make money out of Google Wave?

I came across an article online that Google has announced that they might start an App store once Google Wave takes off. I thought this is little premature, considering Google has not even specified the exact date or month when Wave will be available for everyone and not just people invited to use and test it.

Google announcing there might be a App store says two things.

• Google seems to be pretty confident of Wave being more than just a fancy mash up of wiki, blog, email and chat. Wave has been called a protocol, and obviously they feel with the initial feedback that developers will want to create and sell apps online on a revenue sharing basis.
• An App store is probably the best way to monetize Google Wave. Just take a look at Apple, they make almost a billion dollars with the Apple App store. They have had over 2 billion downloads of from the App store. Apple App store is used by only users of Apple products and that is significantly lower by multiples than the number of people who use Google or might end up using Wave. So if everything goes right the amount of money Google Wave might end up making for Google is anyones guess.