kill switch he monetized the web. now he has a plan to fix it
Mar 25, 2026
Ethan Zuckerman, internet scholar and activist who helped build Tripod, reflects on the web he helped create. He discusses how ad models and pop-ups reshaped the internet. He explores forgetful advertising, ethical alternatives to surveillance-driven ads, middleware like blockers, and building public digital infrastructure and co-op approaches.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
How Tripod's Nav Bar Became The Pop Up Scourge
- Ethan Zuckerman created the first nav-bar/pop-up solution at Tripod to separate advertiser inventory from user homepages.
- His 200×200 nav panel became stripped down by others into the pop-up plague that haunted the 1990s web.
How Ad Pricing Fueled Surveillance Targeting
- Ad tech gradually turned the open web into a surveillance machine by adding more contextual signals to targeting.
- Targeters moved from CPM to CPC and then persistent cross-site tracking, escalating data collection to improve ad effectiveness.
Use Forgetful Advertising To Limit Long Term Profiling
- Adopt Forgetful Advertising: allow targeting within a single session but forbid long-term profiling across months or years.
- This preserves useful contextual ads while preventing historical data from reaching advertisers.