I am torn how I feel about ads. It seems that they work for web and app publishers, because it's a way to collect micropayments, while making people feel like

I am torn how I feel about ads. It seems that they work for web and app publishers, because it's a way to collect micropayments, while making people feel like they are not really paying anything. Instead of asking someone to micropay you $0.001, you ask them to waste brain cycles to tune out the ad + cause some increased chance that they'll overpay for a brand name later. This might end up being more expensive than the payment would have been. I must admit I would behave the same way. If you gave me a way to pay $5 / month that would be split among the sites I visit based on the pageviews I generate, I probably would not do it. I wonder if there would a way for such a system to be set up, so that it could offer something more than just installing AdBlock would. I doubt it, but would be happy to be wrong. It seems that ads are the only realistic way for this to work for publishers, while adding an unfortunate mental tax for everyone not savvy enough to install AdBlock. I hope one day we will come up with a solution.