One distinction the author didn't make was personal sites vs product / services sites. My personal site is for me, but the site for my SaaS app? That's for my customers.
Business minded folk can convince themselves that "ads are for the consumer because they benefit from knowing about our great deals!" but everyone else knows that ads are for the business to increase revenue. If they didn't increase revenue, the business wouldn't do it.
If your website provides an actual utility, then that utility is for the customers. Everything else on the site (upsells, cross sells, branding), is for the business.
I was merely trying to convey that when I go to a restaurant website, I want to: see the menu, make a reservation, see hours. There is a specific list of reasons I would go to your restaurant website. It is utility that serves me.
If I go to your restaurant's website and have to dig to find the menu and the page is just plastered with "Fine dining with a wonderful view" and pictures of models eating... that's not helping me, that's advertising to me. And now your website is no longer a utility/service, it is a billboard. The only reason I tolerate the billboard is because of the utility, and if the utility doesnt exist, why would I ever come back.
