There are only a few things which I deeply hate with an absolute passion, and advertisements are one of them (tipping in restaurants is another, but thats a whole 'nother story). Basically, I think that all ads are a remnants of old technology business models. Marketing directly to consumers made a lot of sense when most people lived in rural areas and had limited exposure to a growing personal products market. Ad revenue supported the new "free" TV and radio broadcasts, so even if people didn't like it, them tolerated them because the technology was life-changing and was publicly available to any who could receive them.
The problem is, that ads have become so engrained and accepted, that the industry refuses to change even if they purpose they serve is no longer necessary. I would even say the purpose has changed completely; its no longer about directly marketing, but instead subliminally changing our habits to spend more money in general, by disguising ads as part of the entertainment. Most people in the U.S. have moved to cities, where they can go to different stores and compare different brands in person. The internet allows anyone to compare and buy nearly anything imaginable. Cable TV has been charging monthly fees for decades, and while you could argue that the content has been greatly improved, ad lengths have increased slightly rather than disappearing. It seems absurd to expect someone to pay ever increasing monthly fees and still have 1/4th of their show be content they don't want to watch. Even with technology that allows us to skip ads such as DVR, ads are still abundant and annoying.
With internet sites such as youtube or twitch, I see things differently. I know exactly who the money is going to, in most cases not a multibillion dollar company (er except for the content hosts), but to a smaller entity who will spend most of the revenue to create new content.
I understand that ad marketing is a huge field, but maybe they've outlived their purpose. In the end, the consumer is always fighting for fairness. I only have so many seconds of life, I want to spend as few of them as possible trying to be convinced to spend my money on something I've never heard of, can't afford, don't need, or don't want.
...BUT I don't think there is any easy solution for getting rid of them. They still fund most content available, and most people would agree that they are necessary. However, things such as Netflix and Spotify prove that we indeed have the technology now for consumers to pay directly for content and eliminate ads.
What do you think?
