I agree MS is moving in the wrong direction here. Hopefully with the telemetry data on people disabling these features, they will consider better transparency and control over the online features like personalization, content in start menu, edge , etc.

MS needs to make a profit on Windows. Apple can give away MacOS for free and make up the costs on hardware margins.

Windows can make money by charging consumers, by licensing to OEMs, by upselling other MS products, or by selling ads & content.

The only way MS will stop ads would be if consumers pay for Windows directly.