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Comment by jonstokes | Hacker News Reader

I have a suggestion for Wired. Instead of a splash screen that says, "We get it: Ads aren’t what you’re here for...." How about "Hi, as you can see, our business model is old and busted, and even though we're a publication about optimism and the future, this lame anti-blocker screen is sadly the best we can do right now. Please help us limp along until we can figure out something better by either enabling ads or paying for a subscription."

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Do you want to see 80% of existing content creators online to die and the other 20% to keep the lights on through paygates?

Because that's what we're going to get if advertising dies.

Do you have a better business model? People have been seeking a better business model for content for the last two decades. It's not quite so easy as just saying "evolve! innovate damn you!"

Advertising is an immoral business model in the age of constant connectivity and pervasive data collection. The winners are those who do the best job of getting you to come back over and over, and the best way to do that is to addict you. Once you're hooked, they make money by selling changes in your behavior to the highest bidder.

Today's advertising industry is all about addiction and coercion. Celebrate its death.

> Do you want to see 80% of existing content creators online to die and the other 20% to keep the lights on through paygates?

YES, emphatically so and I will happily help build the coffins. They cannot die soon enough, we have massive over-coverage and not nearly enough darwinism when it comes to news websites, which is what causes clickbait headlines and shoddy quality.

I'm hoping for more around 95% death toll but that's just me.

Jon, given your history at both Ars and Wired, I'm amused that your "limp along" plan is the (current) Ars model (some pay, some small amount in block the ads, most use an ad blocker and/or private browsing).

So what constitutes something better that you've seen remotely take hold? Google Contributor? Direct per-article micropayments? Events or sponsored research? (au revoir gigaom). I'm honestly curious.

And what would be the alternative to the "old and busted" business model? I personally think advertising is a great business model. It's not because some technology (with a dubious legality) can render a business model less effective that's it necessarily old and busted.

There is no dubious legality about adblocker software. I can install whatever software I want on my computer to selectively filter whatever information I choose.

Conversely, isn't the content producer free to block or nag consumers who don't contribute back?

Perhaps they're better off not doing so, if it loses viewership, but that's the content producer's choice to make.

Of course the content producer is free to block or nag. I was just commenting on the legality of ad blockers in general (definitely legal).

“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.” -Tyler Durden

I don't like most advertising, but humans worked to acquire status and assets long before there was advertising. In fact, they even would risk their lives and kill for them.

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