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> if there were no ads, lots of websites would simply go away

Increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the web like this sounds fantastic.

Would you actually pay subscriptions for YouTube, for a news site, for a recipe site, for newsletters, for podcasts, etc?

Ad delivery should have been standardized decades ago into a sane, safe format.

The way they are implemented today is lunacy. I won't even use the web without a blocker.

Ads don’t have to imply tracking or targeting based on anything but page context or browser language or crude geolocation.

If as tracking and targeting disappears tomorrow, not much would have to change, except that some of the money that has been flowing out of traditional advertising like print and TV will flow back. This would make a dent in the “free” online content for sure but it would be worth it. Personally I wouldn’t lose any sleep even if 90% of the ad funded internet including most social media disappeared or became subscription only tomorrow.

If your sole business model is to find tricks to assault your users' attention I think your business should die.