I didn't say "ads have never been a thing". I'm saying they are no longer viable. Sort of like horse-draw buggies were no longer viable after the arrival of the automobile.
If you’re going to claim that targeted ads are that kind of improvement over the alternative, you should present some evidence of their relative efficacy. From what I’ve seen, unless you rely solely on marketing claims, you won’t find it because the improvement is marginal at best.