That is not cool and should be the headline. Maybe it's time to start looking for another distro if Ubuntu's time is coming to an end.
Ubuntu is providing so much value on the server end, having predictable LTS release, quite up to date packages, easy to use zfs and solid experience, it seems people's use cases are for hobby only which has many alternatives.
I'm not interested in using ad-supported versions of products, period. Especially for work. I don't care what their other redeeming qualities are. Even just dipping their toe into the freemium/nagware world signals to me that they're moving away from shipping a professional grade product (ironic given that's what they're advertising).
I don't buy into "what's the big deal" type arguments like the parent post. Same as I'd cancel netflix even if they just showed a 2 second ad before a movie. I want to be a customer, not a vehicle for advertising. The fact that this is an open source software project makes me even more sensitive to it, because I don't want to see OSS become some sort of scam that teases what companies really want to sell you.
Bet you're not the type to pay for a product.
It's easy to say you want to move on with 1 tiny annoyance, but when you start providing services to people, you'd realize you need to make a life out of it.
You also seem to have a very wrong sense of open source definition that they must be free and ad free, but that's just in your free riding mind.
I've never had an easier and more seamless time upgrading across major versions, and that includes my previous experience with Ubuntu, Arch, Mac, Android, Windows and Debian.
Luckily for me, I was already into podman and flatpak on Ubuntu, so swiching wasn't hard beyond forgetting that I can't do apt anymore every once in a while.
Debian would have been my choice bad silverblue not worked worked for me.
Currently a happy user of Devuan.
But just keep pushing. And I'll keep moving.