Lets not pretend that ads help people with less money. Ads are designed to manipulate people into buying things they don't need.
They encourage people to believe their self worth is linked to the things they own. That a persons status in society is somehow associated with how much money they have to spend.
> Lets not pretend that ads help people with less money.
Who's pretending? Ads naturally and quite effectively price-discriminate, and so they do make internet content cheaper for people with less money.
You may have problems with excessive consumption, but many people in developing countries do not. They desperately need the free content (educational, informative, and otherwise) that the current internet model provides them.
My family is made up of poor immigrants, many of whom are back in their home country. Free communication systems are a godsend for them.
While I love libraries and public broadcasting, I learned to code as a poor kid through library books, they are not the full solution and they never provided free, instant, and any time international communication for people.
They encourage people to believe their self worth is linked to the things they own. That a persons status in society is somehow associated with how much money they have to spend.