Bugger the Punter, we are all here to make money

Bit cynical perhaps, but true. There is so much money sloshing around on the web right now, that everyone wants their cut.

Traffic has become the name of the game. You acquire traffic, either for free because the world beats a path to your website's door, or you buy traffic through AdWords or other PayPerClick programs.

Those punters that have ended up on your website are all "yours", to be monetarised in whatever way you think fit and in whatever way will maximise your profits.

There are no "good guys" on the web, we all are here to make money. There is no such thing as a free lunch. The punter wants information or wants to be entertained, we supply that information or entertainment. But the punter would be naive to think any of us are doing it from the goodness of our hearts. Web sites cost money, the punter has proved reluctant to pay to enter websites (except porn), so the money has to be found elsewhere.

Microsoft (through their Operating System) and Google (through their control of searches) have created fiefdoms that monopolise vast chunks of the web. The world has been wary of Microsoft for some time, and now Google was thrown of the "Mr Nice Guy" image to control us with their Toolbar tricks.

But everyone is up to manipulating the punter, from made for AdSense sites that are nothing but feeds of hotel data bases, to the purchasing of links to enhance search engine positioning of your site. We are all like Pavlov's dogs - a set of rules is given, and we all react to make money - as much money as possible.

It is possible, but not probable that the web will evolve to decent content sites giving the punters what they actually want. The more probable scenario is that the big sites will become bigger and the small sites will become insignificant.

The guy that invents a new soft drink is never likely to outsell Coca Cola, no matter how good it is.