> Advertising is literally the root of so many of our social problems.
I block and/or avoid advertising everywhere I can. Ergo consider me an extreme case. But I note that television advertising ("TVbiz") is observably less toxic than the WWW/social-media ad business ("WSbiz").
TVbiz has its darker side, of course. And "smart TVs" can take screenshots and do unwanted things if connected to the Internet. All undocumented.
But WSbiz is at a whole new level and scale of toxic ecosystem.
Advertising has completely gutted the news and information ecosystems to the point that every site is a rage-click race to the bottom.