I really wish more sites did this... I know that for sites that don't get, say 1M views a month, it would be difficult to match the ad networks... but for even a million views a month, it's probably better to get dedicated/approved ad support and building relationships with vendors than to try to poison your own site with ad networks, often blocked.

This is the best thing for the web, I think. It's doesn't seem as good for advertisers in terms of utility for targeting, but on the flip side, I for one am more willing to support sponsors when they have a direct relationship with the content provider.

You don't really need advanced targeting analytics when your content is narrow enough and draws a particular type of reader.

In our case, readers are likely interested in office design/office furniture products because all we do is publish office design project images and information.

I have an idea I'm hoping to work on in the coming years which aims to move the web back in this direction now that I've had some years of experience doing it.