This is the kind of idiocy that makes me despise the developer community every time i see something like this. It is one of my pet peeves, so if you're going to have an opinion on this comment, please, read the whole thing.

The ad supported free internet is one of the most important business models the world has arguably ever seen. Very few can argue with the fact that poor kids in developing countries over the past two decades and longer have had their lives changed beyond anyones wildest dreams thanks to the free resources at the tip of their fingertips.

On the same note, much of the wealth accumulation in the developer community has been on the backs of this very business model. The immense demand for dev talent and the astronomical salaries paid out is a consequence of the difficult financial choices made by so many before us.

When i read absolutely low-effort activism such as the text in the link about how(paraphrasing) 'sEaRcH eNgEnEs mAkE mOnEyY" and thus they are bad. I'm astounded at how intelligent people who can write code can simultaneously be so fucking moronic in their grasp of economics.

The web is an ecosystem. There are always going to be incentives that don't fit your moral compass that are getting optimized for and against. The answer isn't to burn it all down and shit all over a business model because it apparently doesn't fit your childish understanding of the ideal. By all means, compete, but atleast try to understand the various actors and participants in this complex web of entities and what role they're playing in the flow of investment, content, data and economic activity that is far more nuanced than "wEb rEsUlTs wIll B beTtTeR iF nOT oPtImiZeD fUr $$$ "

Face fucking palm