Unless microtransactions for content take off, and they haven&#x27;t, ad tech is necessary to incentivize content on the web.  90% of the websites you read could not exist without the ecosystem that appnexus is a big player in.  Hacker News, being one big ad for ycombinator, doesn&#x27;t need to bother.<p>So he&#x27;s doing a real thing that provides real value to the web.  And it&#x27;s actually a sustainable business, to boot.<p>Lastly, there&#x27;s absolutely no need to get so personal -- if his article offended you, discuss the article.