I've been following the launch late last year of the first free stock trading site on the web -- www.zecco.com -- and have wanted to see how the company was doing pitching its "commission-free stock trades" to a public that's already swimming in low-cost trading companies like Scottrade, TD Ameritrade and Schwab.

With stock trading becoming a commodity business, the typical strategy of discount brokerages that have built an entire business on cheap trades is to now offer "financial guidance and investing services." Charles Schwab has done this as it saw the prices of stock trading plummet (thanks, Internet). With it went margins and employee commissions as well.

Some bloggers that have had bad experiences with Zecco.com are pretty adamant about the initial issues the company has regarding its communications and what it really ads to the equation besides making money on advertising on its website (how it can trade for 'free"?).

Will this business model stand the test of time? Or do most customers need that extra hand-holding they perceive to get by paying for trades?

After reading about www.zecco.com and following coverage here at Bloggingstocks.com, I had to wonder if Google's advertising-only model can just be indefinitely extended. Is it true that just about any online company with a content- or service-rich model disrupt the status quo by providing products and services for free with ad revenue to support it?

Will this strategy work for everyone? The backers of Zecco.com sure think so -- and in the space of personal finance and online trading, I think this is one example where Zecco will shake up the online trading community with its free trades -- if it can build a customer base and attack the likes of Schwab, E*Trade and TD Ameritrade.

Can Google advertising save the, um, industry? Any industry? I'm not so sure it's that simple, but the sheer success of Google's advertising juggernaut is legendary. But, can a pretty decent transaction processing structure (if it's that complicated) be completely financed by income generated by Google ads and other relevant advertising? Zecco.com believes so, and this is an industry where I tend to believe that Zecco can indeed survive on ad revenue. Other industries are questionable, but no online trading according to your truly.

The challenge Zecco.com will have will be to build an audience and recruit longtime traders from online discount brokerages like Schwab, TD Ameritrade and E*Trade. For those that trade frequently or even daily, Zecco.com's "free trades" is bound to catch the attention of quite a few active traders among other folks. The challenge will be to get them to click on Google ads when they get over to Zecco.com.