The fact is, people using Firefox are probably more savvy than the average computer user, and for that reason, they tend not to click on ads. I have the extension alluded to in the article, but when I’m not at my home computer, I never click on any ads, with the exception of maybe two in my whole life. And those were for products I was already interested in. I figure most people smart enough to pick up Firefox feel the same.

Plain text ads, google style? I have no problem with them and if they are intelligently targeted even click on them a fair percentage of the time.

The problem is intelligence and ethics. Most ad-serving people are ethically bankrupt morons or criminals. Out-and-out crooks can’t afford to buy ad space in the New Yorker or Time, but they’re all over the mainstream web. We haven’t scratched the surface of consumer frustration over this kind of garbage.

Besides, the intrinsic value of a web site is almost always in inverse proportion to the amount of flashing/blinking/scrolling rubbish marching across the page. Ad types always think their stuff is “vital” but it almost never is. There’s usually someone offering the same or better content elsewhere for free or with inobtrusive ads.