Good thoughts, but it is somewhat dependent on the implementation. There are other ways to implement than you describe. The solution doesn't need to be cookie

Good thoughts, but it is somewhat dependent on the implementation. There are other ways to implement than you describe. The solution doesn't need to be cookie based, as it can be a browser plugin, as it is tied to the user, and therefore, that gets around a bunch of the cookie issues. You're taking this from the "ad guy" perspective of this is how advertising works, but what about taking the publisher perspective of "how do I get paid for my content". They likely don't care if the money is coming from an advertiser or consumer. They may in fact prefer the consumer payment model. I don't think you can even begin with attempting to get 100% coverage. But if you can get adoption on a few larger, more visited sites, or within certain niches with certain individuals who particularly dislike advertising, it could spread from there. But...is this better than the direct subscription model for the publisher?