My ideal would not be for all sites to go ad free. It would be for advertising to go back to following the model it does everywhere else: Places that sell space for advertising either sell it directly, or go with a 3rd party to handle the advertising, but still maintain some control over what ads are presented, how and when.
I have never found ads in buses and trains to be particularly obtrusive, and usually don't find them to be tasteless. Advertising in print media is fine, and oftentimes even useful. Advertising on TV and YouTube is generally tolerable.
The only place where ads really become toxic is when they're being served up through ad networks. As far as I can tell, nobody likes them. Users obviously hate them - adblockers are darn near ubiquitous nowadays, and it seems that folks have generally realized that most Web ads have more in common with junk mail and telemarketing than they do with other forms of marketing. Advertisers don't seem to like them much, either, or at least they don't like them enough to be willing to pay anywhere near the price that they'll pay for ads delivered any other way. And content providers have to be aware that they've made a Faustian bargain.
But consider the advertising on a site like knitty.com, which is tasteful and relevant. And it does it using a targeting model that's eminently sane and civilized, namely, placing ads on a site you pick based on knowing that their audience and your target market are one and the same. That's an online advertising model I can get behind.
I have never found ads in buses and trains to be particularly obtrusive, and usually don't find them to be tasteless. Advertising in print media is fine, and oftentimes even useful. Advertising on TV and YouTube is generally tolerable.
The only place where ads really become toxic is when they're being served up through ad networks. As far as I can tell, nobody likes them. Users obviously hate them - adblockers are darn near ubiquitous nowadays, and it seems that folks have generally realized that most Web ads have more in common with junk mail and telemarketing than they do with other forms of marketing. Advertisers don't seem to like them much, either, or at least they don't like them enough to be willing to pay anywhere near the price that they'll pay for ads delivered any other way. And content providers have to be aware that they've made a Faustian bargain.
But consider the advertising on a site like knitty.com, which is tasteful and relevant. And it does it using a targeting model that's eminently sane and civilized, namely, placing ads on a site you pick based on knowing that their audience and your target market are one and the same. That's an online advertising model I can get behind.