I have a different hypothesis (I know it's a controversial one). Ad based business models have a redistributive effect. Services like Facebook are paid for in

I have a different hypothesis (I know it's a controversial one). Ad based business models have a redistributive effect. Services like Facebook are paid for in proportion to spending power whilst usage has a completely different distribution. So wealthier users are effectively subsidising less wealthy users, which enables broad network effects and economies of scale. People will always pay to influence other people. I think advertising while being annoying is one of the less malign forms of doing that. It also has privacy preserving characteristics as there is nothing more destructive for privacy than making a payment. That doesn't mean we shouldn't regulate to limit ad targeting. I think we should.