Asklemmy

Yes, I haven't seen an advertisement short of billboards on the highway in years.

I understand the necessity for advertisements in funding the internet. I would happily pay $5 or $10 one time to use my favorite sites, but obviously the majority of sites will always be advertiser-funded.

The major reason I still insist on using ad and tracking blockers (plus other userscripts and whatnot) it's because of how unbelievably insane online advertising has become. There is so much predation and privacy violations that it boggles the mind. Advertiser companies can collect databases larger than most people's closest family and friends know about them. By using many diverse and complicated methods, they can know things like your sexuality, your exact age, your current location, your race, your gender, your height, your weight, your address, and so much more. They also will sell all this information to consolidators at a drop of the hat.

Not only that, but with things like invasive pop-ups, fake download buttons, annoying interruptions every few seconds while consuming your content, and other invasive and annoying advertiser practices have made the modern web practically unusable without an ad blocker.

Now, if companies didn't basically steal and then sell your soul, and they didn't detract from the actual media in the most annoying and predatory ways possible, I might consider turning off my ad blocker. I don't actually hate advertisements, there are plenty of ads that I've seen that I absolutely love, but the kind of advertising that has become the face of the modern internet is just unacceptable and I will not yield for any morality reasons until advertising firms do the same.