• Ars Technica, Monday, March 15, 2010 2:08 PM

As if we needed anymore proof, Pew has concluded that consumers prefer ad-supported content to pay walls. "When it comes to online news, getting people to pay for content they otherwise value is 'like trying to force butterflies back into their cocoons,' " assured the report from The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

Last year, online advertising saw its first decline since 2002, according to Pew. EMarketer found that revenues fell by a total of $1 billion between 2008 and 2009. Still, a full 81% of Internet surfers say they're fine with online ads if it means the content remains free -- yet "much of that is because they find them easy to ignore." Meanwhile, 21% of respondents said they click on ads "at least sometimes," and that number goes up when the user is more active. Among daily Web users, 28% reported clicking on ads. For people who visit at least six sites a day, the click rate is as high as 37%.

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