[thr717272]

There was already ads in feeds or feeds that were nothing more than links.

But IIRC there were also sites that let you pay for a full feed and I think something good could have come out of it.

[AlecSchueler]

And there are websites that let you pay for add free.

The original point is simply that RSS would have gone the way of the web, in terms of the presence of advertising, had it become mainstream.

There being workarounds or other models possible doesn't change that and it also applies to the web today. As another commentor pointed out, RSS would have unique difficulties for adblockers as well.