| It wouldn't work. Ads work because you're trading something that is worth more to the publisher than to you. Let's imagine a utility currency called bananas. A piece of your attention is worth 0 bananas to you. But it is worth 10 bananas to a publisher. The cost of creating and serving you a piece of content is 5 bananas to the publisher, and the value of it to you is 2 bananas. If there were no ads, you'd be willing to pay 2 bananas to the publisher, which would not cover the cost. Therefore, the publisher and content creators would go out of business. You wouldn't be willing to pay the full cost (5 bananas), because the content isn't worth that much to you. Outome: You: 0 bananas Publisher: 0 bananas By seeing the ad, you generate 10 bananas of value to the publisher and content creator, while you get 2 bananas of value by receiving the content. Outcome: You: 2 bananas Publisher: 10 bananas Direct funding will never fully replace ad revenue. |
Consider all of the modern content industries that aren't primarily ad supported - movies, music, AAA video games, books. In this context the ad-supported nature of web content looks like an aberration, not an ideal to strive for.