I'm beginning to have my doubts about Chris Anderson's long tail, the proposition that cultural boutiques can make a living on the internet. Seems the more successful abandon the long tail for the plusher conditions of network television; and the stragglers are so far down the long tail that they fall off the chart. One disgruntled publisher complains she's owed less than the minimum Google can be bothered to pay her. And, as fast as she makes money, Google lifts the threshold.

Not sure if this falls under the theme of Valleywag, but Google Adsense has just raised its monthly payment minimum to $100. When I started with Adsense in late 2004/ early 2005 the minimum was $25. Just when was about to hit the $25 minimum, they raised it to $50. Now that I have $45 in my account, the minimum is $100. Granted, I have a site with very low traffic, but how many website owners are getting screwed by Google? If the long-tail theory holds out, there could be millions of dollars of unpaid Google ads. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I want my $50!!

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