It would be impossible NOT to make money.
There are keywords out there with so much traffic, you only have to rank for ONE keyword and you are set for life. One keyword could get you freedom, unlimited vacations, days spent with your family and friends, a bigger house, debt free living, working just a few hours per week or less.
Well, I'll be frank with you. In the past, it was almost impossible to rank for these sorts of keywords (unless you had a multi million dollar budget). Either you payed $2-$5 per click through pay per click, or you spent thousands on search engine services, research, etc...
These keywords were always reserved for gurus and huge corporations--major players with deep pockets.
A year or so ago, google started displaying "google maps" results on the first page, in their regular search results.
They call this "the 10 box" because google started listing 10 local businesses right there on the first page.
There are sites listed in the maps "10box" that have ZERO search engine experience and tiny marketing budgets.