I wonder how would the world would have been if these services were paid by their users only, so algorithms optimized for user satisfaction instead of engagement.
Ten years ago, I wrote something [1] arguing that it is impossible to escape ads by paying, as long as the product is content:
> Here’s why I believe you will not escape ads by paying for your content: people who can afford to pay for content are people with money, or people with buying power, in other words, the exact same people advertisers look to target. The more buying power you demonstrate, the more advertisers will target you. So the more you pay to keep ads away, the more advertisers will pay to put them back in. With the way the world currently works, selling ads, it seems, will always be more profitable than selling content.
> Here’s why I believe you will not escape ads by paying for your content: people who can afford to pay for content are people with money, or people with buying power, in other words, the exact same people advertisers look to target. The more buying power you demonstrate, the more advertisers will target you. So the more you pay to keep ads away, the more advertisers will pay to put them back in. With the way the world currently works, selling ads, it seems, will always be more profitable than selling content.
[1] https://hliyan.github.io/2015/07/19/Why-you-will-never-escap...