Every single example provided by the author takes one of two formats. Either you pay a monthly bill for "all you can eat," or you make discrete payments of $1-$2-$10. These are the models that work.
It's not that your article isn't worth a nickel, it's that it's not worth my mental energy to debate whether to spend a nickel.
It is not a question of whether it is built into your phone, your browser, or any other platform. It's what's built into your brain. "Pay as you go" is incompatible with the observed preferences of consumers.
I'm sure that most sites that rely on advertising would have rather been paid directly by consumers, such that they would not have to rely on ad networks or other third parties. But consumers don't want to spend a penny or a nickel at a time. It's not worth the mental transaction costs. Ad views were the only realistic way to squeeze a penny out of a page view.