4 ms·

> Most content is worthless. Which is why ads are the only way to monetize it and be able to actually have it somewhere. > The purpose can easily be filled by

by dwild 11y ago

> Most content is worthless. Which is why ads are the only way to monetize it and be able to actually have it somewhere. > The purpose can easily be filled by some alternate, free material. Except nothing is free. Someone has to pay for it. If it's not ad networks and if it's not donations (again, mostly because most content is worthless, and probably also because most people are greedy), who will pay for it? > Very little of it has a material impact on anyone's day to day life. How old are you? I'm 23, my youth was spent on the internet learning. I wasn't able to pay any content at the time. The website I was reading from were living out of ads, some of them made by minor, that were later able to make a decent living out of it. Yeah we have a bunch of website getting enough donations, but they need to be in the top 100 to actually survive from it. When Youtube Red was announced, I was freaking happy (except about the fact that I'm Canadian and I won't be able to enjoy it), most arguments I've seen against ads was that there was no alternative... except now people are simply complaining that Youtube is simply being greedy and that they can already get that using adblock... It's probably too late to make people realize that content isn't free, that offering it isn't free either. We are in a world where ads and huge investment gave us the opportunity to share and produce really cheaply and it seems like it's all free... you remove the ads, you remove any way to pay for that cheap but existing cost. I still have a little hope on donations though, seeing the amount some live streamers are able to make on Twitch, seeing how Patreon is a way to make a living, seeing how some crowdfunding is able to produce some really decent content (Tabletop, Conman, Fallout Nuka Break and VGHS to name a few), etc... I hope it will grow and allow us to keep at least the same amount of content as before.

imgabe 11y ago
> Which is why ads are the only way to monetize it and be able to actually have it somewhere. Why do we need to have it somewhere if nobody wants it enough to pay for it? > Except nothing is free. Someone has to pay for it. If it's not ad networks and if it's not donations (again, mostly because most content is worthless, and probably also because most people are greedy), who will pay for it? People who want to disseminate information will pay to do so. Hacker News doesn't have ads. YCombinator is paying for it because it serves their purposes to have an online community for hackers. People write and create other content for a variety of reasons. Usually the best content is not created to maximize the amount of money it makes.
- jhall1468 11y ago
  > Why do we need to have it somewhere if nobody wants it enough to pay for it? Yes, because search engines are basically elitist.
RUG3Y 11y ago
Back in the old days, (early 1990's) when I was starting out on the internet, there was very little advertising. What advertising there was, was relatively unobtrusive. People were putting up content for personal reasons, passion or desire to share and communicate with an audience. The era of the mom making a living with a blog hadn't begun. Frankly, it was a better time. Sure the technology was limited, but things were simpler and much more exciting. There isn't a single blog on the internet that I can't do without.

by dwild 11y ago

imgabe 11y ago

> Which is why ads are the only way to monetize it and be able to actually have it somewhere. Why do we need to have it somewhere if nobody wants it enough to pay for it? > Except nothing is free. Someone has to pay for it. If it's not ad networks and if it's not donations (again, mostly because most content is worthless, and probably also because most people are greedy), who will pay for it? People who want to disseminate information will pay to do so. Hacker News doesn't have ads. YCombinator is paying for it because it serves their purposes to have an online community for hackers. People write and create other content for a variety of reasons. Usually the best content is not created to maximize the amount of money it makes.

jhall1468 11y ago
> Why do we need to have it somewhere if nobody wants it enough to pay for it? Yes, because search engines are basically elitist.

RUG3Y 11y ago

Back in the old days, (early 1990's) when I was starting out on the internet, there was very little advertising. What advertising there was, was relatively unobtrusive. People were putting up content for personal reasons, passion or desire to share and communicate with an audience. The era of the mom making a living with a blog hadn't begun. Frankly, it was a better time. Sure the technology was limited, but things were simpler and much more exciting. There isn't a single blog on the internet that I can't do without.