On average, yes, they are not free. The way things break down, however, is a small subset of users subsidize the rest. So if you're the kind of person that pret

On average, yes, they are not free. The way things break down, however, is a small subset of users subsidize the rest. So if you're the kind of person that pretty much never clicks on adds and doesn't pay much attention to them, then you are only paying the opportunity cost of consuming the product and ads, which is likely less than the per-user cost to the service.