Possibly the same way Scientologists would sell and re-purchase books 'written' by L. Ron Hubbard, to boost their positions on best-seller lists. I think this particular business model is called 'loss-leading', where you take an initial loss in order to get someone in the door, then you really sock 'em with the hard sell. A more sinister version of this would be the classic bait-and-switch, which is illegal. AOL just overpromises. Like I alluded to earlier, they're like drug dealers. They offer you freebies until you're hooked, then they've got you where they want you, and make it hard for you to let go. I'm dramatizing, of course, but not by much.