[arg_discuss] Deception and what it means to be Real

[Brooke Thompson]

On Jun 19, 2009, at 5:02 PM, Michael Monello wrote:


> On 6/19/09 4:09 PM, "Brooke Thompson" <brooke at giantmice.com> wrote:

>

> Ads do come at a cost to the user. Oh, sure, we might justify it by

> saying that a story told in an ad is a heck of a lot better than

> something shouting "Congratulations! You have won an iPod!", but it is

> still not what drives users to Gawker or IO9 or wherever

>

>

> Except that it's the ads that make the existence of Gawker and I09  

> et al possible in the first place. If users really didn't find a  

> value in advertising within those spaces then they would be willing  

> to pay for that content. So far, audiences have consistently shown  

> their unwillingness to pay for it, preferring to have it subsidized  

> by advertising.

>


Just because the cost of the ads is less than the cost of paying for  
it, does not mean that there is no cost or that there is value.