No Thanks To RSS Ads
I haven't seen it in the feeds I subscribe to yet, but Google ads in feeds are now a reality (although still as a test). Publishers has always been able to do it themselves but with a Google Adsense service for this, it might just become too much.
I don't like the idea at all -- but I guess it had to happen. As the Economist tells us, online advertising is becoming a serious rival to the traditional sort. From that perspective RSS is a threat to Google. To keep the momentum ads got to be where the readers are.
Dave Taylor thinks this corrupts the idea of information syndication and I agree. He suggests a solution if you must have ads: offer an excerpt-only advertising-free feed. That's a reasonable compromise.
Here's another idea. It can't be that hard for a creative programmer to find a way to filter out Google Adsense...
We should also remember that (as long as you own your feed) it's your choice to not publish ads.