Another observation from the afore-mentioned thick-of-things guy about award-season advertising, passed along as I sat in my car in front of Holloway Cleaners. He basically repeated a common lament among the smaller bloggers and columnists, which is that the big sites (Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, N.Y. Times, Variety, The Wrap, Hitfix) are sucking up 90% of the ad money, forcing the smaller guys to beg and harangue to earn a proportional slice of the pie. The irony, of course, is that the smaller guys (myself, Awards Daily, Gold Derby, et. al.) are the real spiritual sages and blog-whisperers — the passionate buzz-starters and advocates who get things started with films like Birdman and Boyhood and The Hurt Locker — and not the big sites, which tend to play it neutralish and moderate, reporting this and that in the usual diligent, dispassionate, big-media way. The smaller guys are absolutely the heart of awards season, but the big guys take almost all the dough. And it sucks. I do okay but it’s a struggle and a hustle every step of the way. Every year I say the same thing because every year the ad buyers forget the same thing — healthy page views are always vital but the main thing during Oscar season is the quality of the eyeballs.