> The commercialized web of today is vastly different from the early beginnings and 99% of the content and services you use online are funded through advertisin

> The commercialized web of today is vastly different from the early beginnings and 99% of the content and services you use online are funded through advertising. Not sure about this value. For instance, Wikipedia, the 5th website in Alexa rank, does not use advertising. Besides, there is an argument to be said that if advertising really became unsustainable, then the services who would disappear would not necessarily be the ones that we miss most. The idea that "creating content costs money so the reader must pay for it" is simplistic. Many people put quality content on the Web because they enjoy doing so, and don't ask for payment, they even pay for hosting out of their own pockets. That's how it started, and it hasn't disappeared, just became less visible when for-profit content arrived. > If you have a job today, it is with almost absolute certainty that the company you work for [...] This statement is far too general to be accurate. I have a job, but I don't work for a company; I doubt that my university significantly relies on ads to be successful.