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disagree that is has nothing to do with the site and everything to do with visitors. these are closely correlated - the content and reputation of a site very much dictate the type of visitors it attracts.

exchanges are very useful for buying ads but the strategy is the same - finding good sites that cater to people that are likely to buy your product or service.

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I think fred is right and barry (author) is also right. There is a general bias by VC's to ad supported startups, and they can be overly enthusiastic about the latest "business model" to emerge.

From the startup perspective - both ad based revenue and subscription or direct e-commerce models are hard, but the old adage applies: built something people want.

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