[vinbreau]

Ex-Advertising layout designer here for Hearst. Ads in a newspaper are typically laid out in a pyramid fashion to specifically avoid breaking up news articles into more difficult to read formats. 'Flow' is important when laying out every page. Ads on the web adhere to no such flow and often inhibit the experience of reading. Newspapers want their ads to be as unobtrusive as possible while still being seen. Advertisers on the web tend to scattershot ads and want to be seen at all costs without consideration for the viewer. I can easily skip the flow of ads in a newspaper only looking at those that interest me if I choose, I have no such options on the web and so block them all to be less distracted and able to easily digest content.

[eli]

It seems like your complaint is about the poor design of news sites (which I generally agree with) more than it is a philosophical objection to advertising.

(There are some print publications with quite terrible ads too. Not everyone has the standards or resources of Hearst.)

[vinbreau]

These design principles were taught to me while I attended university and are not solely employed by Hearst. Publications that flagrantly disregard lessons learned from the past are horrible and obtuse to read. My point is that publications backed by experienced teams tend to adhere to these lessons, very few web publications could claim the same. Since advertising on the web is much younger, and lacking similar historical perspective, we have an intrusive system for advertising delivery. Advertising in a properly formed publication means the ad layout is determined by an experienced individual and attempts to strike a balance between obtrusiveness and visibility . It seems marketing divisions determine ad placement on the web more than it does in print media and visibility is held to be more important than being less obtrusive, the balance is way off.