The mixed funding model of customers paying directly + funding with advertisement has been a thing for decades. Chomsky commented on it in Manufacturing Consent

The mixed funding model of customers paying directly + funding with advertisement has been a thing for decades. Chomsky commented on it in Manufacturing Consent published in 1988 and iirc it had already been a thing then for decades at that point. In short publications that supplemented with advertising out-competed the alternatives that took a larger fee. Blame price sensitive customers' willingness to pay, not the publications.