It says here that Google is killing the economics of content, in the main because it makes it profitable to build a site with nothing buts ads. The disconnect for me is that the writer sounds as if that’s something new and different, something we haven’t had before, something that Google has recently enabled.

Truth is, though, that particular publishing model has been around for decades at least, if not centuries. Every community has those community shopper gazettes (our is called the Bargain Express, the one where I grew up was called the Shopping News) that contain nothing but ads (the non-advertising content—usually well under 10%—being so fluffy you never notice its presence). And beyond that, there are hundreds of industry publications whose sole reason for existence is to print press releases and give you a number to circle to ask for more information about a product.

There are lots of things that worry me about Google, but this isn’t one of them.