We said browser changes over the years ate into that revenue stream. In other words, as our traffic volume quadrupled, we were essentially making similar amoun

We said browser changes over the years ate into that revenue stream. In other words, as our traffic volume quadrupled, we were essentially making similar amounts of money, rowing four times as hard for each dollar. Part of it was the browsers, and part of it was us not wanting to do lame techniques like pop-ups, flash ads, and other obnoxious things. It was an arms race we weren't interested in participating in, and one we ultimately expected to lose. Who wants to fight a battle for a cause they don't even believe in? I could think of so many things I'd rather focus our engineering talents on than maximizing how many nickels we could shake out of each user. So we decide to do make the change and focus on creating things of value instead.