You are not forced to use the pages/apps that are ad-funded you know ;) Traditional advertising that intrudes on public spaces is much more "evil" by that standard.
It's not like they warn me beforehand. How am I supposed to know that clicking a link will lead me to a place where I will be assaulted by countless ads?
I'm done with that approach. I block all ads. If people send me free web pages, good. If they send me ads as well, they're gonna get deleted before I even see them. Anyone who wants to get paid for their pages can make the HTTP server return 402 Payment Required.
> Traditional advertising that intrudes on public spaces is much more "evil" by that standard.
Absolutely agree. I hate that noise so much. It used to be somewhat tolerable but now I can't even cross a street without being advertised to. The companies will literally put up banners on both ends of sidewalks, near traffic stops. I swear to god they'd put up ads inside my goddamn eyelids if they could. I don't know what to do to make this stuff go away. It's gotten to the point I wish some gang would start vandalizing those signs. I could waste time trying to lobby my city government to ban this stuff but I doubt I can match their lobbying power. I wish I had some sort of ad blocking augmented reality glasses.
Never underestimate the power of NIMBYs to influence zoning ordinances.
Barring that, repeated persistent drive-by paintball defacement of the articles in question may sap the companies’ will to carry on.
I shouldn't underestimate the corruption of these politicians either. It's reasonable to assume the companies are paying them for the privilege of polluting my town. They've even taken over road signs, I can't even look at a stop sign without getting an eyeful of brands.
> repeated persistent drive-by paintball defacement of the articles in question may sap the companies’ will to carry on
... Has anyone ever done that before? What a hero!
https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secret... (Alaska, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont).
Try visiting one of those states, and you'll be amazed at the difference it makes. Vermont and Maine are very high on my list of "next place to live."
> The law was (predictably) fought at all stages by business groups with a vested commercial interest in buying and selling prime public ad space.
This doesn't inspire me to try...
Or find out the hours of a local business, which only has a Facebook page (or worse, instagram!) and no website at all.
Or use a phone or tablet that can connect to the internet -- turns out both of the companies that make 99%+ of smartphones have advertising businesses. And nobody makes apps for any other platform, so they aren't viable.
It's a lot like riding public transit, or using public highways, all of which are plastered with ads in the vast majority of the US. These are things you really can't avoid, so the advertising has essentially become mandatory.