But I do fall squarely in the ad-blocker camp. The attention market of web advertising (particularly AdSense) is extremely inefficient: most ads waste the reader’s time without yielding any return for the advertiser or the content provider. There’s got to be a more efficient way to make sure people are paid for their work.

That said, it’s interesting that ad blockers haven’t really caught on, despite their availability from the earliest days of the web. Perhaps the ad-supported model has more longevity than I give it credit for.

It all depends on the ad network and/or if you have sponsors i.e.: Scoble/Seagate. Some ads are purely PPC, others are CPM and yet others can be a combination.

So technically if a blogger has enough of a readership the CPM while on the low side of payouts will still pay money.

Now I am defintely not an expert by any means on the different ad mosels out there but I do know if I had my druthers I would perfer the sponsorship model. The problem with them is that very few companies want to go that route and if they do you need to be someone like Scoble to be able to interest them.

Unless you are again a big name in the blogging world AdSense is a pennies business as far as an income.

Anyway, back to the substance, I agree with your characterization of the problem. Nothing seems to work except advertising, and even that is on shaky grounds.

But, just to make sure I understand, aren’t most of the advertising models pay-per-click? If so, then don’t bloggers need readers to not just view ads, but also click them? If the readers who despise ads don’t block them but still don’t click on them, how does this help anyone?

I’d be curious to know the average click-through rates and revenue-per click that bloggers see for AdSense or its leading alternatives. For how many bloggers is it realistic to make a living off of this revenue? Perhaps it makes more sense to consider advertising approaches that are pay-per-view rather than pay-per-click and that are less susceptible to ad blocking. Like product placement.

Maybe that’s extreme. But I think things will get worse before they get better. That’s what we get as a society for succumbing to the tyranny of free.

>“users of social media…have to stop being so greedy with their attention span.”

I am not suggesting that readers clicks out of a sense of obligation. What I am more referring to is the fact that readers use things like ad blockers because they don’t feel that ads are worthy of their attention and should be ignored to the point of making them disappear from view.

I have tried “tip jars” and they don’t work worth a damn. I have tried affiliate type scenarios but because of the type of blog I write they are just as pointless.

The majority of bloggers will never see themselves becoming the next Arrington, Cashmore or any of the other blogging luminaries. Book deals aren’t in their cards, speaking engagements will never happen and subscription models for expanded content is a pipe dream.

So what is left for bloggers to try and make a living?

Advertising – but with people thinking that they don’t have to see any ads on blogs they visit – well to me that is just being greedy with their attention span.