> I can still remember reading many blogs in 2009/2010 by hobbyist who just wanted to spread their experience with the hobby or craft. Most had no advertising. Those that did had the small, occasional unobtrusive banner ad. All of the links to follow were to other blogs by those who proved to the writer that their blogs were topical and without cruft.

You make it sound like every hobby website wasn't out to make money. What you're describing are the exceptions, not the rule. And they weren't as numerous as your comment indicates. An RC airplane website/forum had ads or deals with companies selling planes, marijuana websites (anyone remember overgrow.com back in 2001?) had deals with seedbanks and marijuana supply companies. Very rare was the hobby website that operated without sponsorship or some form of money generation mechanic. Not to mention, hosting back then was much more expensive. Today it's cheaper than dirt but that wasn't always the case.