[mahranch]

> I'd be willing to pay a modest subscription if Google got out of the advertising business

That would be like asking Ford to get out of the automotive business. Something like 94% of Google's revenue comes from their advertising division.

More importantly, I wish people would stop pitching the subscription model when it comes to alternatives to advertising. Study after study, after real world example, after real world example has shown that subscription models just don't work. Period. Sure, you may have one or 2 rare exceptions where a site didn't crash and burn but the overwhelming majority of sites that have tried it have fallen hard. And the ones that saw success only saw very tepid success.

It's a model that just doesn't work.