This seems to be a re-occuring pattern: have ads on a free/cheap service, introduce a paid service, place ads on the paid service, then hope if you hold out long enough people will forget there was a time when your paid service was ad free.
Newspapers and magazines have always included ads along with the subscription price. Difference is more that online ads are way more trashy and distracting and terrible for privacy so there’s more reason for pushback.
Prime example: Cable tv
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/07/26/arts/will-cable-tv-be-inv...