As far as I remember there was an Internet without ads. I don't think we need literal garbage stimuli for media to thrive.
Right now there are youtube channels that don't monetize, and have good content. There are soundcloud profiles, blogs and short stories that have no ads.
Most of the advertised internet is garbage, but it's also by far the most popular, due to the ads.
Advertising skews people's views of worthiness, and makes a mockery of honest recommendations. That's literally what it was invented to do!