All these resources have to be paid for by someone and that someone is either our advertisers or our readers. Eliminating, hiding, blocking, or even pretending to show banners while not doing so would all lead to a complete devaluation of internet based advertising as we know it. It my opinion that parts of all these options could come to pass. Most web sites would shut down, some would be able to convert to a subscription based service, and the market would eventually come up with a new advertising paradigm. That is why Apple's implementation of Sherlock, where each link Sherlock shows includes the accompanying banner from the original search engine, is vitally important and Apple deserves a huge commendation for doing so.
Sherlock maintains the integrity of the current system while offering a tremendous service to users.
It is probable that the next 12 to 18 months will see some form of change in the advertising Internet world. New technologies are coming to market even now that offer such things as full screen adverts while a web page is loading behind it. This is the single greatest danger to free web sites today. This brings me back to my purpose for writing this Editorial. When the company announced AdScreen, they were met by a firestorm of protest from many of the web sites they has sent their press release too.