>devs don’t want it to read like an ad (hate advertising)
This is pretty much why I only use browsers with ublock origin installed, and avoid browsing on devices I can't filter out 99.9% of image/video ads. I don't see ads on youtube or google or most other common sites. The only way I get advertised to is sponsored segments in videos or podcasts, or reading a product review I see on a site like HN.
In the case of the former, the sponsor is hoping my willingness to watch/listen to the content provider talk about stuff I like will transfer some level of tolerance to listening to them shill a product. In reality I either mute it until the segment is over or skip past it (if able). For the latter, I do sometimes look at product pages for gizmos and software posted to HN but I bee-line straight for the specs and ignore the marketing fluff, which is either a wordy summary of the specs, or else completely lacking in substance.
So I think some audiences are simply not targetable by their own choice and you have to accept it. I have certainly tried pretty hard to make myself impossible to advertise to (at least in a consistent and reliable way), and I don't think this mindset is uncommon in the industry.
I skip most of the sponsorship on YouTube. I used to use an extension to do it (i think this one: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/sponsorblock-for-y...), but mostly just press the right arrow key until it looks like it's not the ad anymore. Let's be honest. I'm not going to buy your graphical website builder or VPN. I can get both of those in other ways.
For me, you basically have to have good organic search results, or I won't hear about it. Or write something interesting and put it on HN. Works quite well for Tailscale and Fly.io.
This is pretty much why I only use browsers with ublock origin installed, and avoid browsing on devices I can't filter out 99.9% of image/video ads. I don't see ads on youtube or google or most other common sites. The only way I get advertised to is sponsored segments in videos or podcasts, or reading a product review I see on a site like HN.
In the case of the former, the sponsor is hoping my willingness to watch/listen to the content provider talk about stuff I like will transfer some level of tolerance to listening to them shill a product. In reality I either mute it until the segment is over or skip past it (if able). For the latter, I do sometimes look at product pages for gizmos and software posted to HN but I bee-line straight for the specs and ignore the marketing fluff, which is either a wordy summary of the specs, or else completely lacking in substance.
So I think some audiences are simply not targetable by their own choice and you have to accept it. I have certainly tried pretty hard to make myself impossible to advertise to (at least in a consistent and reliable way), and I don't think this mindset is uncommon in the industry.