frankly, i agree with him. and just in case youre still skeptical: why does adblock exist, if not
to bypass the obnoxiousness of the google model? that being said, i agree with your "go directly to the consumer" point. thats a newish idea that has worked out well on several fronts, but requires a certain amount of several other factors to work successfully... the standard seems to be google ads, and i agree that print ads were much less obnoxious, and therefore much more likely to get done whatever the advertisers had in mind. and finally, i hate ads. on tv, in mags/comics, before movies, and anywhere else; but the google model (much like the billboard) has out-shouted any interest i could have possibly had in any product, to the point where i specifically AVOID said products. edit just for fun: my favorite part was "inability to hide derision", followed by the rest of your point. heh.