Roger Black’s the Holy Grail Part 1 and Part 2:

What we have now is the ugliest advertising in the history of the media. I used to say that web sites looked like the walls of a third-world futbol stadium, but that was unfair to the stadiums. Most content sites look so bad they actually repel readers rather than attract them.

Recommended reading for anyone involved in online advertising and web design. via GigaOm