Is somebody else getting paid to use your Internet connection?

Pop-ups, one example of Internet ads

 

Are you paying too much for Internet, or at least more than you'd like? How would you like to know that there are companies out there making money on your Internet connection, and have no intention of paying you a dime of it?

Advertising itself is nothing new. It's probably older than the country you live in. But as you drive down the road and see a billboard, it isn't in your way, and it isn't sipping additional fuel out of your tank. It's just there. On TV and radio, you can't really get around ads, and they take up more and more time each year. In the 1960s, Star Trek episodes were over 50 minutes long, yet only occupied a one-hour time slot. This left less than 10 minutes for ads. Just five years ago, 'one-hour' shows were clocking in at around 42 minutes. Now they're down to 39. That's over a third of the hour spent on advertising. (Has your cable or satellite bill gone down to reflect this? I bet it hasn't.)