(FORTUNE Magazine) – The Internet is becoming a haven for celebrities in need of a career boost. You can hardly surf the Web, listen to the radio, or watch TV without being bombarded by high-tech pitches from some highly unlikely talking heads: Martin Mull shilling for Homepoint.com; center square Whoopi Goldberg for Flooz, an online gift currency; buxom Pamela Anderson Lee for AltaVista.

For a Web company, being associated with a celebrity has its advantages. Would the launch of garageband.com have been covered so prominently if editors hadn't wanted to meet former Talking Head Jerry Harrison, co-founder of the company? Would investors have poured a rumored $100 million into a Website for space aficionados and armchair astronomers if your uncle Myron had founded it, rather than Lou Dobbs, who became perhaps the biggest celebrity among financial journalists during his days at CNN?

It used to be that celebs flocking to the Web could give a company their headshots and walk away with a bunch of options. Last summer, Alanis Morissette inked a deal with MP3.com to sponsor her tour. In exchange for associating her name with the outfit, she and her management company walked away with options worth more than $30 million today. Priceline paid Star Trek star William Shatner 100,000 options worth some $7 million in exchange for being spokesman and doing a few ads.

But there is bad news for agents and celebs: The gig is over. Lose the Armani and put on some overalls, because you're going to have to work for your money now. Those massive stock-option grants? Gone. Cash-rich, newly public Web companies often have money to burn--and they're hoarding the valuable options they used to hand out so freely back in the desperate days (like six months ago).

These public Web companies also have more shareholders to answer to. Just think how shareholders would react now if MP3.com handed over hundreds of thousands of options in exchange for a photo and a low-fi song. Dot-coms have become loath to part with stock options, and they're making their celebrities work for the take. Theglobe.com's new spokesperson, quarterback Dan Marino, has more of a joint venture. It's a multiyear contract paid out partly in stock and partly in cash (his agent wouldn't get more specific). In exchange for his services, theglobe.com hosts his official Website, where fans can keep in touch with him and even read his journal.

Some celebs are taking a different approach--putting "some skin in the game," as Bernie Kosar puts it. Kosar is president of the NFL Quarterbacks Club, a group of 41 football players who take earnings from appearances and sponsorships and put the funds into Net firms. Beyond investing a seven-figure amount in Pseudo, the club is co-developing football-oriented programming for the site. If Pseudo goes public as planned, the Quarterback Club may be rolling in stock--especially Kosar, who sits on the board.

In the past, CEOs of tech companies have become celebrities, says Chris Clark, general manager of Alexander Ogilvy's New York office. "Now you're going to start seeing celebrities become CEOs." Think Pamela Anderson Lee's ready?