In the 90's my econ teacher said that in the future the difference between the rich and the poor will be the amount of ads the see. I thought he attributed it to Ray Bradbury, but I may be mistaken.
The rich see just as many ads, because their eyeballs/attention is worth way more, so companies are far more incentivised to show them ads,
Thats why most companies are shying away from 'pay to see no ads' business models. The very people who pay are your biggest earners from the most valuable ads with the highest conversion values.
Now that streaming has overtaken cable, the need to be ad-free to lure users over is gone. Streaming is the preferred way to consume content, so now they're free to inflict ads on people because they don't think users are going to go backwards. And as each streaming service adopts ads, it lowers the barrier for others.
Plus the streamers are in need of more revenue and ads are just too attractive and easy to turn to.
But lower income folks are always going to see more ads. More billboards in their neighborhoods, more ads via radio, streaming, TV, whatever.
I pay a pretty penny to not see ads. My daughters don’t either. Social discussion on school reveals they miss a LOT of ads.