a16z Podcast: Advertising vs. Micropayments in the Age of Ad Blockers

Apple included support for ad blocking in its recent iOS 9 update, and for many that prompted discussions around an age-old question: Is traditional advertising a viable business model for content -- and if it isn’t, what has a shot at replacing it?

In this segment of the a16z Podcast [and one of our first podcasts 'by request'], Chris Dixon (who led our BuzzFeed investment and has previously shared his thoughts on the topic) and Benedict Evans (who has also been an independent content site producer himself and has shared some of his thoughts on the topic) discuss the future of advertising; why micropayments have been mostly a non-starter until now; the chicken-egg issue; and which alternative forms of advertising -- native ads, for example -- are showing promise. Finally, why quality media outlets will do extremely well once the industry comes out on the other side of this wrenching transitional period.

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