You seem to think content creators sit in some evil dungeon, plotting out ways to screw their readers with ads. That's not really it at all. There are a limite

You seem to think content creators sit in some evil dungeon, plotting out ways to screw their readers with ads. That's not really it at all. There are a limited number of ad networks out there and publishers attach themselves to one or more of them. At that point, the publisher is largely clear of the process, unless they're negotiating custom deals of some sort, which happens with larger sites but is far less common than small sites. The people doing the tracking aren't the content sites -- it's the ad networks. As a publisher, I'm not privy to your personal details.