I'm not disagreeing with vilmosi, I just want to add that I think it's important to really talk things through, instead of just being baffled/angry that some people have different ethical views.

It has long come to my attention that the way we engineers look at ads differs a lot from what average people think. A lot of average people like ads. Many of them are actively interested in the latest deals. Example: I disabled ads in one of the apps my mother was using because "obviously" they are annoying. My mother became annoyed and wanted them back because she's always on the lookout for discounts. My wife wants me to sign up for snail mail advertisements from local businesses because she too is interested in discounts and new goods.

Don't fall into this trap of thinking that people universally hate ads, or that everybody perceive ads as brainwashing them into buying stuff they don't want.

I personally hate ads, I block them wherever I can and I use a vpn for any traffic I don't want associated with my name. I still understand that people trying to monetize their service is not unethical and that the world would be significantly worse off if we were to ban ads as a way of monetization.

Also I have had the same experience as you, I know people many tech illiterate folk that actually like seeing ads.