Duncan Arthur:

We’ve seen traditional publishers we applaud for beautifully designed print publications throw out their own rulebook for their web-based versions. High-end design, it seems, has been viewed as incompatible with amassing the glut of page views and ad impressions, required for commercial viability. And the more banner ad inventory prices have fallen, the greater the motivation to find ever more ways to push more ads to readers including such horrible tactics as the auto-refresh.

Thankfully, that trend is slowly reversing. A clean, uncluttered site is becoming a mark of quality – and people will pay more to be associated with that.

[hat-tip: Say Media]