""In that model, display advertising will perform as well as search." Yes, for advertisers. But for publishers it's a disaster. Unless you are a big name brand, the CPMs available to you are pathetic. Generally less than $1. At those levels its nearly impossible to make money off high value, high cost content. Your only hope is to get traffic from Google and funnel that search intent into AdSense or relevant affiliate offers. I think online publishing is forming 2 distinct classes. The only sites that can survive off pure ad revenue are the high traffic, high brand recognition sites with inhouse sales teams (mainstream newspapers, magazines, massive blogs). To survive, smaller publishers will need to abandon the ad model and make money by funneling visitors towards their own products and services, or those of another business through an affiliate relationship. Basically, they need to use their content and audience to promote themselves, rather than selling display ads at basement CPMs...." - John Wesley