That may be the case but you can’t discount the possibility that when you are shopping for something, your choices are influenced by advertising that you have previously been exposed to whether you are aware of it or not. Your decision to go shopping for something in the first place may be influenced by it too.

that's totally fine. I prefer a world without advertisement, ideally. I disagree with you that there is no spectrum of ad ethics.

And while you are not "trying" to manipulate anyone (maybe), I also disagree that you are not effectively influencing your reader thoughts to some degree.

The analogy I made is: even an internet comment does, on a smaller scale, less maliciously, use persuasion techniques: should we get rid of discussion forums too? I don't think so, and while an ad-less world seems like a nice experiment, sounds pretty unrealistic, regulating (outlawing would be nice) tracking in ads? More realistic and fixing 80% of what's wrong with 20% of the effort if you ask me

You're right that an ad-less world is impossible. Advertisements existed before you and I were both alive and they will exist when we're gone.

But that does not mean I have to partake in them, watch them, or allow them to consume my attention and time. I also don't need to spend my limited time on this planet trying to "fix advertising". I can simply block them and ignore the ones that slip through, and get on with my life. If this is an issue that is dear to your heart, that sentiment undoubtedly feels dismissive. I'm sorry about that.