In the US, I think there's a pretty strong First Amendment case against regulating the actual "engagement" mechanisms as the author suggests. That's assuming we

In the US, I think there's a pretty strong First Amendment case against regulating the actual "engagement" mechanisms as the author suggests. That's assuming we could even come up with a sensible and effective set of regulations in the first place. It also seems weird to me that the author describes how advertising has shaped this architecture, and then suggests that we tweak things at the browser and website level, leaving the advertisers alone. Shouldn't there also be a discussion about what ad networks are allowed to do in terms of the collection, retention, security, (de)anonymization, and sale of user data? How about punitive damages for networks that distribute ads with malware? Maybe if we didn't let that sector run wild, it would have less influence over website design.