Related to the Economics in Practice on page 196. The search engine business is subject to ________, which means that as the use of the search engine increases, the long-run cost to provide additional searches on that search engine will likely fall.

A) diminishing returns
B) economies of scale
C) diseconomies of scale
D) significant government regulation

The correct answer is economies of scale. This economic principle suggests that as the production level increases, the cost per unit of production decreases. In the context of a search engine business, as more people use the search engine, the cost of providing additional searches decreases because the infrastructure and technology to support these searches become more cost-effective at larger scales.