_posts/2015-07-28-on-the-verge.md
---
title: "‘On The Verge’"
date: 2015-07-28 10:08:48 -05:00
layout: post
custom_type: link
link_url: http://adactio.com/journal/9312
---
Jeremy Keith:
> If the message coming down from above is that performance concerns and business concerns are fundamentally at odds, then I just don’t know how the developers are ever going to create [a culture of performance](http://alistapart.com/article/performance-showing-versus-telling) (which is a real shame, because they sound like a great bunch). It’s a particularly bizarre false dichotomy to be foisting when you consider that [all the evidence](http://www.impressivewebs.com/importance-of-website-performance-sources/) points to performance as being a key differentiator when it comes to making moolah.
Jeremy continues:
> For such a young, supposedly-innovative industry, I’m often amazed at what people choose to treat as immovable, unchangeable, carved-in-stone issues. Bloated, invasive ad tracking isn’t a law of nature. It’s a choice. We can choose to change.
The Verge’s Nilay Patel is so full of crap. The argument presented makes it sound like this is the only way, and if you’re against it, then you’re against people feeding themselves and their families.
*It's a choice.* I don’t want The Verge to go away, or to fail. I just fundamentally disagree with the way they’re choosing to do business.
Ad-supported businesses need to reevaluate, and ask themselves how far they’re willing to go to please their advertisers. Unfortunately, these companies seem to be under the false notion that they’re the ones in charge, and content makers are only reinforcing that notion.
There is a fork in the road: change or lose your audience. People are tired of it.