In the 1990s, I used to watch TV and there were lots of ads. Now I have Netflix and the ad blocker takes care of YouTube. There were magazines and newspapers you had to buy but were full of ads. Now it’s free and the adblocker takes care of the ads. Radio ads. Now podcast where you can fastforward, sometimes before you even hear the name of the company.
There's also the question of qualitative change, such as personally targeted advertising and the infrastructure and methods (massive pervasive surveillance) required to support that.
Given global ad spending trends and the consequences of targeted manipulation and mass surveillance, I'd strongly suggest your life is not nearly so free of advertising's influence as you testify, and perhaps even believe.
Computer magazines (and computer/video game magazines) had pretty good ads. They're still fun to read today.
I still miss the Fry's Electronics ad sections in newspapers.
A few years ago at least, print magazines still seemed to be alive in the UK, perhaps in part because they were often sold by newsagents.