Here&#x27;s an answer from other HN threads. No one wants to buy a membership for the following reasons (in concert):<p>* no unified marketplace means you have to buy a variety of memberships.<p>* no established micro-transaction provider means costs are going to be above minimum credit card transaction fees which makes multiple memberships expensive.<p>* ad block is free.<p>If you&#x27;re an established brand, you can count on some degree of good will. People will pay for the NYT, the WSJ, and the Economist. They&#x27;ll pay for the LWN for a similar reason. But for BuzzFeed? Probably not. And for Random Site K, not a chance. I mean, would _you_ pay to use SpeedTest.net?