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Collecting new private information that wouldn't be collected otherwise, for the purposes of targeting ads, is also a bad thing about ads IMO. There's nothing wrong with Gmail showing me relevant ads to my email, but there's something wrong with Google Chrome collecting my browsing history (under the guise of a "Sync" feature) for ads.

> Ads aren't bad by themselves

That is not something that everyone agrees with (although neither is what constitutes an "ad"). There are obviously grey areas and arbitrary lines get drawn, but I personally feel like the whole concept of intentionally trying to influence someone to buy/consume/want something that they don't already desire is a a little ethically dubious.

Agreed.

I consider it psychological manipulation. Nothing more.

I'll add to that list "consume my device's energy to no benefit," in the days of mobile dominance. The battery and network resources wasted by ad content that doesn't result in a conversion adds up, and I don't know that price is yet reflected in the cost of the impressions.

Ads that don't take your time and focus away aren't really worth anything, are they?