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Easy to say, “The best in my generation are working on ads”, but ads work (intentionally leaving “work” underspecified) where they are supposed to. I’m doing research on ad-free content creation models and learning very sobering lessons.
Not many people realize how *much* of the modern internet is possible because of Ads. Also, when folks talk about paywall subscription models there is latent elitism there. Your $5 subscription fee is a coffee in San Francisco, but in many parts of the world it’s a lot of sweat. https://twitter.com/2796gaurav/status/1314786919016886273
Of course, people have weaponized ads for misinformation and privacy invasion. But show me one human innovation that’s not weaponized?
The whole notion of “ban ads and embrace subscription” that’s going on seems very black and white thinking, and to a large extent shortsighted. Substack and kind will survive, but for other reasons; not because they will create lifestyle supporting revenues for the authors.
The future of knowledge (and even insights) is free. We just don’t know yet how to make it free *and* make it viable for the creators of knowledge.
Reply zone. Adding replies to this thread in this chain because mid thread replies get lost.
The problem with ads of today is the consolidation and the winner-take-all ad markets. There is no easy solution here, but I believe the best of Ad innovation is yet to come. https://twitter.com/surajsubraveti/status/1314792504265306114
Grants are good model if you have a large enough cause (not just “reporting”), and budget to do grant-based fundraising. Wikimedia foundation works this way, but it’s not easy for anyone who aspires to write to set it up and get going. https://twitter.com/andrewcstewart/status/1314792402029174784
This is the norm in music industry, but a new generation of artists are breaking out of that. If you sacrifice the equity in the content you are creating for upfront payment, it’s usually a raw deal for the creators. Many artists bite it to solve immediate cash flow problems. https://twitter.com/seanjtaylor/status/1314796939494400000
I agree. More examples of where ad innovation desperately needs to happen. 
https://twitter.com/tdietterich/status/1314807849445281792
https://twitter.com/tdietterich/status/1314807849445281792
Decentralization, privacy preserving learning, and other newer technologies will replace what’s in today’s Ad stack. https://twitter.com/zain_yousuf/status/1314809993158430726
Imagine a Google or a Facebook that “knew” nothing about you but still served you with the right ads with privacy preserving brokers. The brokers themselves would not have a gestalt on any single person.
The current ad stack warrants this level of cynicism. The answer, however, is not no ads, but a ground up reinvention of advertising models. Like above, for example. https://twitter.com/cdubhland/status/1314812312499310592
Everything I’ve said in this thread also applies to recommender systems, because ad engines are after all recommendations systems. We are also due for next generation YouTube and Netflix, one that will not guzzle our data, repackage it and repurpose it. See also, tweets above 
https://twitter.com/recurseparadox/status/1314819729450622977
https://twitter.com/recurseparadox/status/1314819729450622977
