Fortunately really, if any commodity was generated and distributed for free the value drops overtime and if it went on for long enough it will eventually lose all value.
Time, effort, money and ideas are all related and can pass as forms of investments which you would get a ROI from, if invested wisely of course. The only distinction is the quality being offered; we have low and high skilled labor, and the latter can put a premium on their effort and time. In the example you cited, the web designer would probably earn more than those who are paid to attract traffic to the site as it's a higher skilled labor.