They will work only so long as consumers are bombarded with advertising. Once enough sites start playing into the subscription model, people will probably forget how much they disliked intrusive ads in the first place and the promotions will start all over again. People will opt for the free instead of the clean. Before long, we'll be right back where we started. There is, however, another possibility, and you need not look further than the tube to find it.
TV offers a range of subscriber and advertising options.
With one, you don't pay a thing and you don't have to watch an ad. It's called public broadcasting, and its content generally runs a little less schlocky than most networks and cable channels. Indeed, Salon publisher David Talbot, in his letter to readers about the new subscription model, and in a subsequent plea from novelist Jonathan Lethem, all but promised a tote bag in the site's PBS-like bid for a handout. So Salon is a for-profit company hanging on by its fingertips to a Nasdaq listing. Between the two, Salon might just scrape up enough money to survive.