This trend waving away self-direction (implying apathy and outright stupidity) seems wildly elitist and anti-democratic on its face. Yes, most people are stupid about most subjects. So what? That doesn't mean you toss everything to regulation. Either people will be careful about the important aspects of their life and their neighbor's life or they won't flourish. It's ok that people aren't living optimal lives according to someone else and it's ok to be jealous of people who take advantage of others to a degree that they can't comprehend. Advertising is not that profitable. Lots of people work in adtech and do not get rich and even the big boys fall over with the razor thin margins and delicate relationships (who is dumb enough to pay for ads these days? Basically politicians and pharm companies). Google is exceptionally large and good at what it's done, but in the long run everything ends...even Google. I think this is clickbait describing phantom threats in a slow news cycle.
Advertising is definitely lucrative otherwise you wouldn't have tech mega corps like Facebook and Google making billions of dollars. Obviously small ad companies won't make as much, but there are tons of them so obviously there is plenty enough to go around.
Your premise that nobody pays for ads is wrong and given how strongly you put it and how large a share of your argument leans on it, I'm not very hopeful about the rest. Can you explain what you base your opinions on? It might help the rest of us evaluate your points better.
