Great idea, but only one problem. Where will all the money go which is eventually made from advertisements on the site? We're already seeing ads from the search, where does money go?

What incentive would there be for the Steem price at all? It would have no value bc there'd be no "dividends" paid from owning it. Everyone would immediately dump the steem, and it would be as worthless as an upvote on Facebook, Reddit, or Twitter.

but overall, the idea is great one. also, traffic would dwindle to just about zero around here!

Would be great for us if Steemit went away, as it's SOMEWHAT a competitor to this little gem:
https://steemit.com/money/@harpooninvestor/snapchat-the-greatest-investment-in-the-stock-market-at-usd17-15

We haven't thought about it greatly, but here's another thought experiment:
Make all posts via subscription or "purchase-to-read" only. Posts still get measured based on money, but that money is given BEFORE you read the full post. So more like a magazine or newspaper. If you like a writer, you can subscribe for a small fee or per-article if you love the headline.

Not sure of how that would work, but just something for all you guys and gals to chew on...