Obnoxious advertising runs the Internet.
Running web services isn't cheap, definitely not on the scale of Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. These platforms are pushing for ad-free subscriptions for users or accepting more ads and data scraping.
In the EU, data privacy laws have cornered Meta, forcing Facebook and Instagram users to either accept more ads or pay to avoid them. They likely gather more data after the ultimatum, whether you pay or not – that sweet usage data nectar they'll sell.
On the other hand, YouTube is battling ad blockers. If you disable yours, you'll be interrupted by ads constantly and in a really jarring way. The banners in YouTube are OK, the ads before and after the video are OK, but when YouTube cuts the video mid-sentence to a random ad, it really makes me hate the platform. The best adverts on YouTube are the ones created by the creators. The problem for YouTube is that the creator made that deal without the platform. Those greedy creators.
Social media is nothing without these content creators. There is no advertising without these people making the content.
Does advertising have to be that annoying? Yes, it does. Advertisers know how to get your attention, and that's enough. Ads don't have to be good; it's cost-effective even to just be annoying.
Social media isn't the only one trying to get your subscription money or overwhelm you with ads. The news websites do this too. You know that random, one-in-a-million website that wants you to visit them every day. One big ad on top, both sides filled, and amidst the article, causing a jarring layout shift. Makes you really want to click and buy, right? I'm not even reading those three paragraphs of an article, I'm closing the tab. I bet most ad clicks are mistakes anyway.
If you hate ads, just buy every subscription service there is, and you'll easily end up paying your rent money on them. We're in a situation where services and advertisers keep a nice Internet experience hostage for money.
Running web services isn't cheap, but we shouldn't accept the current state of advertising we have now. If a website overwhelms you with ads, close the tab and never return. If YouTube surveys whether you saw this or that ad, always answer that you didn't see any. Fuck them.
Advertisers and websites should really be concerned about the quality of ads they serve if they have to. No pop-ups or modals, no half or fullscreen ads. Keep the banners in moderate sizes, and if you have to put multiple ads inside an article, use proper placeholders. Maybe an auto-scrolling carousel with position: sticky and aspect-ratio: 16/9?