Yeah, I think the world would be better off without ads altogether. Just allow people to search for what they need or want by themselves, that's enough.
>...and pay out of pocket for the use of a search engine?
That's the only way service providers will see a cent from me going forward. Ads present not only a privacy risk but they're increasingly becoming a security risk too. I will not allow them on any of the devices I own or that connect to my home WiFi.
I think that static ads served from the first-party CDN are security-wise no worse that the content itself.
Blocking scripts and requests by third-party ad networks makes complete sense from security perspective, though.
Affiliate links going directly to relevant item pages in a store are fine by me, too. They have to be relevant for anyone to click on them, they don't play video or make sound, etc. They do give some tracking opportunity, but without third-party cookies and third-party requests, it's hard to achieve anything resembling the privacy-invading precise tracking which current ad networks routinely do.
In any case, I much more prefer the absence of AWS and an honest donation button.
