This is the industry that created the popup/pop-under, and abused it until it got to the point where every reasonable browser has integrated functionality to bl

This is the industry that created the popup/pop-under, and abused it until it got to the point where every reasonable browser has integrated functionality to block & whitelist them. Now they're abusing mass data harvesting and profiling until it too gets to the point where every reasonable browser will integrate functionality to block & whitelist it. This is an industry that targets users as prey, and cries foul when we play hard to get. For me, most advertising lives on a scale. At one end we have advertising that seems mutually beneficial to all, like sponsorship of podcasts. At the other end of the scale, we have unsolicited bulk email, which I've never seen anyone try to defend. It feels like each generation of web advertising starts somewhere in the upper third of this scale, and then digs and digs to sink as low as it can, until some measure is brought in to make this generation ineffective. Then they go off, come back with a new model, and start digging all over again. Ultimately I do wish they'd come up with a model that isn't abusive of users, publishers and even their own advertisers; but at this point I'm inclined to believe this leopard can't change its spots, and will always sink as low as we allow it to.