Is It Becoming Harder To Sell Ads Directly

A couple of years ago selling your own ads was considered one of the best monetization methods. Provided you had some traffic and that your blog was focused on a particular niche it was just a matter of finding companies related to your niche and negotiating directly with them.
That is when 125×125 ads on the sidebar spread all over the web.
Lately, however, I have been noticing an opposite trend: it seems that fewer and fewer blogs are selling their ads directly to advertisers, and the ones who are still doing it have fewer advertisers aboard.
What is causing this change? I can think of two factors: perhaps advertisers are becoming reluctant to negotiate directly with bloggers and small site owners, and instead they are relying more on large ad networks (e.g., CPM networks or Google AdWords).
On the other side of the coin there are the bloggers and site owners, who perhaps are also relying less on selling ads directly and more on other monetization methods, like selling their own products.
Either way those are just my views, and I would like to know what you guys think. You can cast a vote on the poll below, and if you want to expand your opinion please leave a comment.

Is It Becoming Harder To Sell Ads Directly? (Poll Closed)

Yes 80.68% (71 votes)

 

No 19.32% (17 votes)

 

 

Total Votes: 88

Create Your Own Poll