With so much media distraction vying for consumer attention, breakout content is everyone's goal. But the truth is that the economics of virality aren't always kind to those who create it.

Take Marilyn Hagerty and the North Dakota newspaper that publishes her restaurant column, the Grand Forks Herald. You probably know by now that her polite Olive Garden review garnered well over 1 million page views after Gawker picked it up and turned the 85-year-old critic into a minor and wholly unforeseen celebrity. In addition to countless blog mentions, tweets and Facebook posts, Ms. Hagerty earned a visit to New York to appear on Anderson Cooper's "Anderson," "Piers Morgan Tonight" and other TV shows.

Yet Marilyn Mania hasn't scored a big revenue hit for the newspaper owned by Forum Communications.