One underplayed advantage for Substack and subscriber-based sites is how clean the reading experience is. A mixture of advertising, sign-up obsession, and recirculation efforts has made so many sites an awful reading experience.
I don't mean to pick on CNBC, as this applies to lots of sites. But I just went to read something there and... 
I've been in meetings deciding whether to add some of these widgets to a page. I've asked for some of them!
All of these decisions make sense on their own. Some are financially necessary. But the reading experience degrades quickly as they add up.
All of these decisions make sense on their own. Some are financially necessary. But the reading experience degrades quickly as they add up.
It's easy to track when a widget is leading some of the audience to subscribe or to click on to that breaking news article. It's harder to track the generalized annoyance of readers, and the new market opportunity opening for competitors...
Which is all to say I think an arms race of subscription widgets and advertisements has really increased the returns right now to truly clean design, which is an advantage for business models that don't require visual clutter.
(Also, the underlying CNBC article here, tracking the politics of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant closure, is very good, and you should read it: cnbc.com/2021/10/02/why…)
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