It might help to differentiate advertising-based publications from Web
publishers by changing the phrasing here. Advertising-based publications
deliver readership to their advertisers. Their customers are advertisers;
the product is readership (this is in the best publications; in the worst,
the editorial content is for sale, but even they have to deliver readers).
Although that model may also work on the Web, I think there's a strong
argument to suggest that it is evolving into a model in which the Web
publisher brings together advertisers and customers; those who do so most
efficiently will be the biggest winners.
I changed the subject line to raise a question. Although I think it's
self-evident that efficient distributed search is in the interest of
Internet users, is it in the interest of the search service providers to
enable it? Is "coopertition" in this arena (cooperating competitors)
likely?
Nick