Leaving ethics aside for a second, neither of these statements are "completely" true in the real world. In the real world, you have to deal with lots of rules

Leaving ethics aside for a second, neither of these statements are "completely" true in the real world. In the real world, you have to deal with lots of rules and regulations regarding advertising (which is what paid links are) and companies with significant market power. The real world is not some libertarian wet dream.