It just means that we are wrong to look at the Web in the same way we do other mass media. For one thing, on the Web there are not many couch potatoes to be found. We SURF, which implies constant motion, while ads attempt to arrest that motion or control it. This is where the system starts to fall apart. You see the truth is that the World Wide Web is about gaining and gathering information and the ads just distract from that purpose.
Ads are a nuisance.
Let me explain. We go to travel sites not to click on travel ads, but to arrange trips. The travel sites, like any travel agent, make commissions. And because they charge, they have to offer both good service and value, which is what will make the Internet succeed, not ads. Sometimes ads work, like here at I, Cringely, but that's because we have modest needs.