Talk may be cheap, but chat is nearly worthless. Arguably the most used application of the Internet behind electronic mail, chat still confounds Web media publishers.
Few services can build big audiences more quickly than chat.
And yet, translating that viewership into advertising dollars remains more difficult than ever before. But on its own, it's not enough for building an entire business. The fundamental elements of chat that help draw viewers are the same factors that scare away advertisers. Users engaged in an interesting chat session are unlikely to click on a banner ad that would take them away from their chat room, essentially defeating advertisers' purpose for buying the ad space in the first place. The laws of supply and demand also serve to undercut chat's viability.