Think of a high-end clothing store where they offer you a cocktail while you shop. Now imagine you have an ad blocker that prevents you from seeing the clothes

Think of a high-end clothing store where they offer you a cocktail while you shop. Now imagine you have an ad blocker that prevents you from seeing the clothes. You just walk in and they're happy to hand you a cocktail and you stand in an empty-looking room with a friend enjoying your free cocktails. You're still getting manipulated because the free cocktail brought you into the store. Without it you would have chosen to go somewhere else. Or imagine you don't drink, and you go to a tapas place and buy some loss-leader food items and a water. You were manipulated by the loss leaders. They manipulated you into the place. Of course what that comment is referring to is sites where the content is harmful, but no matter how sites sustain themselves, it's up to you to choose content that benefits you rather than harms you.