It wasn’t so long ago that saying your new startup was monetized by ads wasn’t scary. Some companies go right from eyeballs to ads and to sell-out. Thats great work if you can get it. But the number of eyeballs is limited. Its scary to think that, but on the web, we tend to give value away and “make it up on volume”. The only problem is you need a hell of a lot of volume to make up for free. And 6 billion people isn’t all that many when it comes down to it. Personally I think web businesses are growing up. The eyeball business model is getting to be like Market street in San Francisco. Everyone is pierced, shaved, screaming, or on fire. They’re crying for attention and they have to keep shouting louder than everyone else to get it.
