3. The Troll Ad

You click on a link, but before you can get to your destination you must first pay a toll: several seconds of looking at a full-page plug. These are called interstitial ads, and like push-downs, they’ll usually go away on their own (or if you click the little “skip this ad” link that is sometimes tucked into a corner of the page). Delayed gratification can be a good thing (as a Red Sox fan, I can attest to that), but Web surfers are not known for their patience.

4. The Hulk Ad

Scenario: You’re scrolling down a webpage when your hand slips and—whoa!—a massive ad is now covering up that hilarious lolcat! You’ve just encountered an expandable mouse-over ad, which, like an angered Bruce Banner, can grow to several times its normal size. While some such ads expand without warning when you move your cursor onto them, others are clearly marked “roll over to expand” or “click to expand.”

5. The Blogger Endorsement

For nearly as long as there have been influential bloggers, there have been marketers trying to get product samples—and perhaps additional enticements—into the hands of said bloggers. The draconian new rules issued by the Federal Trade Commission earlier this month mean that bloggers will have to disclose such freebies, but it’s still an effective way for brands to get noticed (they’ve been doing it for decades with print media, which are, oddly, exempt from the rules).

Of all the vexing questions about the future of the media business, the most important one is: How is anyone going to make money from Web content? Given the reluctance of users to pay for anything, advertising seems like the only realistic solution. So instead of going apoplectic at the sight of a push-down ad temporarily displacing your precious Maureen Dowd column, grin and bear it—it may be journalism’s last best hope.