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Web ads that pop up over--or under--your browser. Ads that startle you with flashy animations and sound effects. Ads that commandeer the screen for a few seconds, then vanish before your eyes. No doubt about it: Internet advertising is more in-your-face than ever.

You already know that, but Gregg Keizer's "It's an Ad, Ad, Ad, Ad World" provides the inside story on how we got here, where we're going, and how PC users are responding. And a disclaimer is in order. If you have dropped by our site lately--and we hope you have--you've seen the trend in action.

Why the explosion of tough-to-ignore commercial messages on the Web? Like countless other online destinations, PCWorld.com aims to provide plenty of useful, free features. And that means selling ads--enough to pay a talented staff, to lease Web server space and bandwidth, to launch valuable new content and tools, and to make a buck or two in the process.

As the steep mortality rate among dot coms shows, executing this strategy is no cakewalk. The Web is still an immature, volatile medium. That's one big reason why online ads continue to morph--and why sites such as ours now run pushier ones. Today's ads are works in progress, whether you find them edifying or irksome, amusing or just plain intrusive.

To Block or Not?

All of which raises some interesting questions. Is PC World shooting itself in the proverbial foot by rating ad-blocker software, as Keizer's article does? Forrester Research reports that a paltry 1 percent of Web users run blockers, but those who do can zap our site's ads. And given that ads pay for so many of the Web's freebies, is it self-defeating for a visitor to block them out? (A Web in which every user erased every ad would be a Web that no rational advertiser would subsidize.)

There are no easy answers here. But one thing's for sure: Nobody can force you to pay attention to an online ad, any more than a TV station can stop you from rifling the fridge during a commercial break. But it's also true that folks willingly take heed of plenty of commercial messages. In fact, surveys by PC World and other publications show that the information in advertisements is one reason readers find magazines valuable. We will know the Web has grown up a bit when people feel the same way about online advertising.

Of course, more and more sites hope that user fees will help foot the bills. But this remains an iffy business proposition, and it's clear that fees won't transform the Web into a no-ads zone. Consider the Wall Street Journal's site. One of the few successful fee-based online incarnations of a major dead-tree publication, it carries ads and a user charge, just like the newspaper--and come to think of it, just like this magazine.

More intriguing questions: Are there Web features we don't currently offer that you'd pay for? What if PCWorld.com mixed free areas and fee-based sections? Is there a formula for ads that you would find truly useful? Would we be crazy to charge for online content--or nuts not to consider that route?

Drop us a line at eddir@pcworld.com and let us know what you think. The shape of tomorrow's Web is anyone's guess--but you can definitely help mold the online future of PC World.

Tell Us What You Think: Rate this issue--you could win $500. You'll need your subscriber number from the mailing label to take this survey online. The Web site explains the official rules and also how to participate in the drawing if you're not a subscriber. You can enter from April 1 through April 30, 2002.

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