I’d happily accept ads for things on the internet as long as they were relevant to the topic and non-intrusive. These sites do need to earn some money for the work they do and I can decide if that work is valuable or not by reading their articles or watching their videos. Just make the ad experience sensible instead of throwing shitty dark patterns and other things that interrupt the experience. Let me subscribe to a pure RSS feed or other lightweight experience I can pull into a reader.

At least then I’m actually choosing to receive ads. In return it would be nice to have a say in the sheer amount of attention grabbing advertising we’re subjected to in the physical realm. There is no consent there, and this advertising only serves the purpose of businesses selling stuff. Why can’t I charge a cost per view for everything shoved in my face on the way to work, or at the cinema, or on the train, or in any other situation where I’ve already handed over cash? My attention is a scarce resource that holds a lot of value to my friends, family, colleagues, and any other human being in my life. I’d love to paywall access to that.

In short though I believe there has to be a fundamental shift from the belief that ads, tracking, and shadow profiles are the path to profit in an increasingly connected world. Something about the relationship needs to change, maybe towards business-2-citizen instead of business-2-consumer.