Google also builds the world’s most popular web browser and the world’s most popular mobile phone OS and the world’s most popular email service and the world’s most popular streaming video platform. Most people prefer to see the ads and get those things free of charge. Oh, and they make thermostats, and funny-looking self driving cars.

Facebook runs the world’s largest social network and during the pandemic it was one of the few ways (along with things like Zoom) that people could see the faces of their friends and family during lockdown. Facebook are also VR pioneers via Oculus. The metaverse is pretty dumb though.

Reducing these gigantic companies that do many things to just “advertising” and implying that the many people who work there are wasting their talents is cynical and cheap.

You know what would really suck? Having to pay a few cents every time you do a search, or paying a subscription to watch Youtube or use Gmail or see your friends Facebook posts. Ads are a totally reasonable alternative and all they do is sit there — you can ignore them and get all of these products for free.