I wrote long ago that the ad based revenue model was liberal in nature since it allowed people to live the liberal dream of something for nothing. Of course, it only seemed like that. In truth, the big ad companies were using their customers as product. But many others who jumped on the ad revenue bandwagon have decided it is not a very good model. Basically, you piss off the conservative people who like to produce before they consume and in doing so you chase us away. At the same time, you attract liberal minded people who like to consume before or without producing. So the system is set up to chase away the goose that lays golden eggs and attracts flies. This is not an absolute statement by any means. Nothing is absolute. But the lean of ad based systems is to attract people who really have no intention of spending anything with your business. Just getting "eye hits" ain't all it cracked up to be.
As proof that my prediction is coming true, I just learned from the email below that Seeking Alpha, a popular online financial site, has moved away from ad revs to subscription revs. And now that they are seeking revenue from non-passive ad hits, they have to think more about how to add value to their subs. This will, of course, result in them adding value to their subs!
Look for the whole notion of ad based revenue to collapse over the next decade, just like I predicted 10 years ago that it eventually would do so.
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