Nobody really likes ads, but free content does. A large percentage of Internet users will still prefer “free”; Just look at the total amount of free news versus paid news. Also here on Tweakers, most users don’t pay, even if it’s an option. me too. No one will really be bound by paid content and services alone.

The ad model has a long list of flaws, all of which are less immediately apparent than spending money. That the entire internet is a lot uglier and more insecure because of it, the massive amount of sensationalism/disinformation/clickbait, the privacy breaches everywhere, the massive concentration of money and power with the biggest advertising brokers, and the general decline of journalism… However, money often speaks the loudest.

To do otherwise is so necessary that it is unrealistic, it seems to me. The whole thinking about marketing (how a brand/product/service becomes known to the public) must change, online content and services must be paid for by users in a standardized and robust manner and the world’s population must have disposable income to be able to afford a robust diet. For media without ads. Perhaps the ad-based model should be banned, worldwide, because competing with something that seems free is very difficult.

This is far from the case unfortunately. Getting the ad model out of it ever seems almost impossible to me unfortunately. All we can do is opt for paid content where possible, or block ads, but not enough people are going to do that to form critical mass, I would expect.

[Reactie gewijzigd door geert1 op 18 januari 2023 12:15]