> That some advertisers think they should pay by impression and not by click is their own stupidity.
It's not. Ads can be entirely successful without a click - sometimes it'll just be a reminder of the brand's name the next time you are shopping for their product. "Users running adblockers likely wouldn't click the ads anyway" is a pretty naive view of how the ad industry operates.
This isn't what usually happens though. If advertising drove negative value to a brand over time it just wouldn't be purchased.
Not many companies can take off purely on the quality of their product, especially in boring industries. I can't think of an insurance company which I learned about outside of widespread advertising.
Assuming you're consciously aware of what's going on. Maybe you are, but you wouldn't know if you aren't. You can't really claim to be immune to subconscious tricks.
It's not. Ads can be entirely successful without a click - sometimes it'll just be a reminder of the brand's name the next time you are shopping for their product. "Users running adblockers likely wouldn't click the ads anyway" is a pretty naive view of how the ad industry operates.