Users, given the choice between paying for things and being inundated with ads, overwhelmingly choose the ads. I don't get it either, but advertising isn't some

Users, given the choice between paying for things and being inundated with ads, overwhelmingly choose the ads. I don't get it either, but advertising isn't some conspiracy, it's giving the people what they want. Ambitious social reform programs have left enough literal and metaphorical bodies in their wake that I want none of that. Your linked argument that advertising makes things more expensive doesn't work out; ultimately businesses need to create awareness of their products and there's a zero-sum game for attention to be won. These costs will be borne by the purchasers of products no matter what you do. As technological progress makes design, manufacturing and distribution cheaper but advertising no more cost effective, there's a sort of Amdahl's law pushing advertising's share of costs up. That said, advertising and advertising-supported products sound like an incredibly dreary thing to work on, so I'll continue letting someone else do the "stuff for which users are not willing to pay" thing.