

Can Tumblr’s David Karp Embrace Ads Without Selling Out? - yungchin
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/magazine/can-tumblrs-david-karp-embrace-ads-without-selling-out.html?pagewanted=all

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dm8
With caveat of getting downvoted, I don't understand why ad supported
businesses are derided especially on forums like HN.

1\. Marketing & Visibility: Ads let small businesses (and of course startups)
to gain visibility. How many startups don't use Google Adwords? Almost
everyone.

2\. Proven Model: Ad supported businesses are proven model of decades.
Newspapers, radio, TV, magazines everyone used ads to subsidize "creativity".

3\. Privacy: In digital realm, targeting and cookie dropping leads to privacy
concerns. I completely agree. But all the data is mainly collected
anonymously. As a young male in twenties, I'd much prefer my ads that are
relevant to me. And I'm fine with data collection as long its free.

4\. Democratization: Don't forget ads played critical role in democratization
of Internet since everyone could join the party with minimal barriers. Imagine
if all the services were paid. Even students from developing countries like
India/China couldn't have afforded it due to currency imbalances.

5\. Ads are crappy: Currently banner ads are crappy. I agree. Ads done right
are always enjoyable. Who didn't enjoy the old spice "The Man Your Man Could
Smell Like" campaign. All of my friends loved it. Remember, it was all digital
campaign. Crappy ads lead to frustration. Auto-playing videos, page-takeovers,
etc. are ugly, we must change that to make advertising attractive.

~~~
vellum
For web apps, the eCPM can be pretty horrible if you're not in a decent niche.
Mobile eCPM is sliding downwards as well. If the ad supported business model
is derided, it's because a lot of them treat monetization as an after-thought,
rather than something that should be baked in the product. There's also a
wishy-washy quality that a lot of people have, about thinking you can get
ramen profitable just by slapping on an Adsense banner.

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DanielRibeiro
Fred Wilson wrote about this today: <http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2012/07/in-
defense-of-free.html>

TL;DR : yes

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armenarmen
Wouldn't the best route to take be making ads an opt in, they broker the ads
and content creators get a piece of the action? And be able to blacklist
certain ads

