My larger point here is that everyone on HN knows about ad blockers and is using them if they want to be, so it's tired and repetitious to keep seeing the same

My larger point here is that everyone on HN knows about ad blockers and is using them if they want to be, so it's tired and repetitious to keep seeing the same smug "Well why are you even seeing ads, just use an ad blocker" comments. The ads matter, even if you aren't personally seeing them. Ads are what funds the majority of content online. Most people are still seeing them. It's reasonable to have a discussion about ads, and responses like "Just use an adblocker" are just thread derails, as we're seeing here.