The mistake was the presentation UI for notifications. Instead of making it an active question for users to dismiss, it should been presented as a subtle toggl

The mistake was the presentation UI for notifications. Instead of making it an active question for users to dismiss, it should been presented as a subtle toggle somewhere in the UI chrome-- sort of like the star icon to add to favourites. This would have made it possible to offer notifications without being in-your-face about it, which would have made them more amenable for sites that were concerned about brand image and user feedback. The paradigm might not have become unavoidably tainted, and we'd just name-and-shame the bad actors. It also makes it clear that the notification consent shouldn't be a one-way street-- you should be able to discontinue notifications through the same UI and in an obvious manner, rather than treating it as a consent you can easily offer, but not easily retract.