“It's not really easy to put ads behind a paywall — it's not a great user experience, I don't recommend it. Instead we find partnership deals with these brands where the brand will give the consumer some kind of exclusive discount or early access, and we'll market that perk natively to our consumers behind the paywall.”

Don't put ads behind the paywall — broker brand perks instead

Surfline replaced behind-paywall display ads with native brand-funded perks (discounts on wetsuits, early access to surf parks). Brands get higher performance than banners and subscribers feel rewarded instead of advertised at — the paywall stays clean while still capturing the brand-revenue upside hybrid monetization promises.