The site owners discussing how no one took them up on their subscription services seem to miss a significant point: their sites aren't worth anything like what

The site owners discussing how no one took them up on their subscription services seem to miss a significant point: their sites aren't worth anything like what they're charging to most users. $25 for an annual site subscription is something I'd only pay for a handful of sites - most sites simply don't have enough unique, quality content to make me care. Replacing adblock with ad-free subscriptions isn't the way of the future. The "beauty" of advertising is that it can create revenue for a site owner in excess of the value they provide to their viewers.