Why No Ads?

I'm beginning to think that not only is the Internet not going to be the cash cow with which anyone can get rich, but I am also starting to believe that Internet advertising is more an intrusion and an annoyance than an asset to build a business, and may even steer people away from the intended result.

I was surfing a nationally-known sports information web site and was interrupted by the forgettable image of Mr. Peanut giding across the screen in a sailboat. With no way possible of turning it off. For the first time ever on the Internet, I felt trapped.

You can bet I'll probably be scarfing down store-brand peanuts after this episode, in much the same way you probably won't find me booking a trip through Orbitz or installing an X10 webcam or clicking on one of the multitude of fake looking Windows dialogue boxes masquerading as ads, designed to ensnare the less savvy among us.

But do you know what the clincher was? The relentless promotion of the movie "Death To Smoochy" on the zap2it.com website. In the hands of more capable filmmakers, I would have embraced the film's theme, which was basically a major rag on Barney.

The fact that "Death To Smoochy" went down as one of Hollywood's biggest bombs - not even grossing into eight figures - justified to me that web advertising has little if no value. And I sat through all these ads for what?

That's why, kids, you'll never see ads on this site, or any others I have involvement with. It is worth to me the price of paying for web space to not have to put you through a series of pop-ups that interrupt the real reason you come to this site - for the content.