As someone who was in the past a salesperson, I don't see how data-hungry digital advertisement is fundamentally different from old and tried sales methods. Salespeople would kill to know as much as possible about their prospects including their personal life, so that they can appeal to basic human emotions. I mean, this is literally how sales are made. The difference is that in online ads this part of the process is automated with algorithms, which apparently rubs some people the wrong way.

If you are repulsed by sales as an activity, I can see how you'd arrive at the "manipulation" point of view. However, I would much prefer this type of "manipulation" to being hard sold in a car dealership, for example, or having to endure cold calls from strangers. Undesired synchronous sales interactions are much more emotionally draining than seeing computer-generated ads online, IMHO.