The web atomizes news, shatters it into its smallest pieces, and forces each and every one of them to pay its own way, to compete in a massive, unregulated, freewheeling marketplace.

Most of our bits can’t. Compete, that is.

The basic economic model of most newspapers is based on bundling — content and audiences. We  bundle disparate content (bridge columns and court reports)  in order to bundle a larger audience (card players and voyeurs) for delivery to advertisers. This is a model that’s worked extremely well for over a hundred years; the incremental costs of adding new content –

Continue reading Digital ads ain’t about banners and boxes