[Loocid]

I think you're underestimating how tech illiterate much of the population is. A quick Google suggests the percentage of people using an adblocker of any kind is only 30-40%. I would consider that the absolutely minimum of web viewing tech literacy.

[janalsncm]

The point remains though that the technical capabilities necessary to install chrome extensions and the technical capabilities required to program dark patterns are vastly different. No one is getting hired on their ability to do the former.

The asymmetry is that one small group of web devs can roll out a change to millions of users whose ability and patience to combat those dark patterns will vary.

[userbinator]

A quick Google suggests the percentage of people using an adblocker of any kind is only 30-40%

That's around 10-20x higher than I think it is in practice. I suspect the majority of users have naturally developed a "mental adblock" instead from all the visual overload, based on how they will completely ignore non-ad information that isn't presented in an attention-getting-enough manner. I've watched others search for information on the Internet without an adblocker and have been astonished at how all the distractions on the pages don't seem to faze them at all, while I could barely keep my eyes on the screen.