There is a working business model that does not rely on ads: Kickstarter. The problem with making everything subscription-based is that it changes the dynamic

There is a working business model that does not rely on ads: Kickstarter. The problem with making everything subscription-based is that it changes the dynamic of the website. A lot. An interesting experiment would be to allow people to pay not just for themselves, but for a few others as well. I.e. you've seen something good, you pay to get rid of ads for that item and it removes ads for N other people as well. Sure, there will be free-riders. That's the point. I postulate that those free-riders would be the people would otherwise not use the platform at all.