Guy Kawasaki: Is Advertising Dead?

Because ad networks are vectors for viruses. They slow down the web by polluting it with images, flash, javascript, cookies, tracker urls, and the ridiculous content they fund. They promote consumerism that is ruining the planet through the exacerbation of consumption when we need conservation.

I expect ads will get more and more intrusive. They'll cause more conflicts of interest like the Times/Pogue issue. They will continue to increase the price of products lacking in quality like the Snuggie issue. They'll continue to distract us from the content we are interested in. They'll continue to entice us to spend more of our money on things we don't need than we would spend if we funded the content we want directly.

I would want it to go away and all content be paid for by subscribers. I would want products to fill needs that people have rather than artificial wants they create. The pharmaceutical advertising market is just one case study in the deleterious result of advertising on society.