Wrong. Top down regulations definitely work. :laughs-in-EU: That's how we banned Apple's proprietary connector, ICE car sales starting 2030, and how (for better or worse) some countries banned nuclear. What makes you think we can't ban targeted ad-tech the same way?

There just isn't the political will behind it like it is on things like ICE cars or nuclear energy, because unlike the latter things, the politicians and voters don't understand it well enough to be outraged about it, so they keep slipping under the radar for now, but there's no guarantee this will go on forever.