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Comment by Nicksil | Hacker News Reader

>Assuming you mean that half second looking at the ad: Name a better alternative for funding the internet. Paywalls at every website?

Funding the Internet? What you're talking about (ads) is a revenue stream for what amounts to a handful of websites. google.com, amazon.com, ycombinator.com, reddit.com, thefacebook.com, tweeter.com, etc. could all go offline right now and the Internet would still be here.

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That doesn't sound right. What about all the other websites with ads, like recipe sites, guitar chords, porn, diy, etc.? or apps on the Google play store with ads?

I run sites that don't have ads. I don't make any money off of them. I still run them. Seems like a lot of people in software development think similarly.

This is the web that I like. Hobbyists and volunteers running low-fi websites for common interests. I'm not against commercial sites like Netflix but don't think every last blog should be monetised.

How do you pay your bills? If running those websites were your full time job, would you still be okay not making any money off of them? Or have you just decided that only people who have other income should have websites?

I don't understand your question; what about them? The websites are just nodes of the Internet. And I don't understand at all why you brought up Google app store apps, so I'll refrain from commenting on that until I better understand your point.

It doesn't feel like a handful of websites. It feels like the dominant experience of the internet for most people. Ads are a source of revenue for many more websites than just a handful. They are also a source of revenue for more than a handful of apps. I

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