3 ms·

I like to think of the information I consume online as more than "inventory".

• patio11 15y ago
  The information is not the inventory, because this particular information is not available for sale in a rivalrous fashion. Your attention is the inventory. (This is sometimes phrased sardonically as "If you're not paying for it, you are the product.")
  • jasondrowley 15y ago
    Exactly. I've made the same comments re being the customer vs. the product regarding Facebook. Except with Facebook, there's a lot more than users' attention on offer to advertisers. The real question is, would content quality improve if we paid for it directly, instead of indirectly through ads?
    • rmc 15y ago
      Another related question: What content would not exist if you had to charge for it and couldn't use ads?