[byoung2]

Two things can be true at the same time: people hate ads, and that they are effective. But more likely the reality is more nuanced. I think that there are a minority of people that hate ads and they are very vocal about it. A majority of people are likely indifferent, and passively consume the ads and then buy the products.

[chistev]

The minority of people who hate ads, how do they propose people promote their products and services?

[gogurt2000]

I hate ads. I use an ad-blocker, I've abandoned Chrome so I can effectively block ads on Youtube, and I avoid ad riddled services like television (ad-free streaming or piracy for me, thanks).

I propose people promote their products on their website and at their place of business. I don't want anyone trying to sell me things. If I need something I go and research it to figure out what my options are and which one I want.

I genuinely believe the world would be a better place with severely limited advertising because a lot of really terrible things are driven by ad revenue: social media and 24 hour news are my go to examples. Sure, broadcast television and radio would also die, but at this point I don't think we're losing much. And sure, content creators would lose out on ad revenue, but the vast majority already make very little in ad revenue and have found other ways to get funding.

The underlying problem is that businesses that rely on ad revenue are incentivized to hold people's attention as long as they can while showing as many ads as they can. Producing a quality product takes a back seat to misleading, emotionally charged, and addictive content that's designed to maximize engagement.