When you say “make money”, there is a problem. Maximal efficiency does not necessarily correlate with making money. Are bloated and obnoxious ads making money?

When you say “make money”, there is a problem. Maximal efficiency does not necessarily correlate with making money. Are bloated and obnoxious ads making money? Depends on who you ask. And on what metrics we are using to determine actual value added. One could make the argument that ads are as much of a waste of energy as mining on a proof-of-work blockchain. There is an implicit subsidy and externality in both cases.