We might be headed for another Covid year (variants yet to be named), with only novels and electronic entertainment to ease the pain. (Read more novels!)

But there’s something lurking under the surface of these entertainments…

On May 8, 1704, one of the first newspaper ads appeared in the Boston News Letter, offering Oyster Bay plantation real estate.

Since then, advertising income contributed to the publishers of printed material (newspapers and magazines), radio shows, television shows, on movie screens before the features, and roadside billboards.

Then came the internet and advertisers found a new way to reach potential purchasers.

But all things change…

The printed news/gossip/fashion word industry declined as the web grew.

Ad blockers proliferated, allowing web pages to load faster and the adverts became invisible.

Ever more tv viewers record programs to watch later, allowing them to jump over the adverts.

Covid reduced the attendances at movie theaters.

Increasing fuel prices result in fewer people driving long distances past billboards.

Whither advertising now?