The idea feels like sci-fi because you’re so used to it, imagining ads gone feels like asking to outlaw gravity. But humanity had been free of current forms of advertising for 99.9% of its existence. Word-of-mouth and community networks worked just fine. First-party websites and online communities would now improve on that.
The traditional argument pro-advertising—that it provides consumers with necessary information—hasn’t been valid for decades.
I highly doubt most ads are being run at a loss. The whole point is to generate sales and increase revenue. If ads continue to persist then they are likely doing the job. Lemmy is overwhelmingly on the same page about how we feel about ads and adblockers, but the majority of the internet’s users do not. IOS users don’t have adblockers on their devices. Anyone who uses a chromium browser doesn’t either. Most people really just don’t care. I had a roommate that told me he actually likes having ads because he learns about products he didn’t know he needed! My first thought was “if you don’t know about it, you don’t need it”, but I really don’t think most people think that way. There are a lot of subtle tricks advertisers use to get viewers to think of their products/services long after the ad was seen. I think most ads are very effective at making money.