This article from ‘MicroISV on a shoestring’ (which is a blog worth keeping up with, if you ask me) has an interesting insight. Patrick says that ad-supported sites are less likely to craft a good user experience, because if the site is better than the ads, the site doesn’t make money. Oversimplified, sure, but it does point out one of the forces at play in the overall dynamic.
I guess that’s a variation on something I’ve been thinking about, that I should get paid for the value I bring, rather than for the value that my advertisers bring. Or my ability to get people to look at little come-ons that give them the perception that there is some value elsewhere, to be more precise.
‘course, setting aside the absurd logic and perverse incentives, I’m glad that somehow ads occasionally work out such that people make good content and also make money from it.