I haven't seen an internet ad in years due to using uBlock Origin with very strict block lists. I feel like I find products and services I need effortlessly. Am I missing something?
Yes. We are discussing googles advertising, and the strategic decisions it forces on companies operating within googles context. And in my post more generally, how that same game plays out in wider society, and with the general public
We are not discussing your personal advertising experience. Nor even the general technocratic audience of HN's advertising experience.
I'm aware the overall discussion was not about my personal preferences, so it should hopefully be clear this is not what I was asking.
The context (set by the OP of this branch) is also that perhaps there is a case of perverse incentives going on, one where we have reached an unhealthy, but relatively stable equilibrium of the majority having the impression of needing Google ads where there would be no such need if they didn't exist.
You responded by saying the majority would indeed confirm that they would not want to be left without ads (an unsubstantiated but plausible claim). But there are clearly people who choose to opt out of ads completely, myself included, and I don't see myself as missing out on anything. So I'm asking whether I am missing out on something.
