Coming soon to your iPod: ads?

"Apple - a brand that prides itself on the purity of the user experience - will soon put up billboards on its popular iTunes service," says adage.com, citing "content partners who have been briefed on the plan".

There's more: "The introduction of visual ads could be the first step to allowing ads in other content areas or on iPods."

It's not dificult to imagine the reaction of Apple aficionados who won't be best pleased about the prospect of pop-ups appearing on iTunes. But will the average user mind?

Looking at it another way, will a few ads from Apple everyday make slight difference to our daily intake?

The question of just how many ads the average consumer sees a day has a surprisingly vast number of answers, a selection of which have usefully been collected here.