We shouldn't take the experience of publishers like Ars and techdirt as indicative of the whole industry. Both of those publishers have very tech savvy audienc

We shouldn't take the experience of publishers like Ars and techdirt as indicative of the whole industry. Both of those publishers have very tech savvy audiences who are not the best demographic for display ads. While the effectiveness of display advertising is not as high as other channels (email for instance) it is still effective. The "american idol" demographic clicks on lots of ads.