Hey man. I'm in advertising.

I agree that there are awful advertisers out there, but I wouldn't lump them all in together. I've made ads with 95% likes on YouTube. I've convinced brands to donate over a million dollars to charitable causes. I've worked with non-profits to raise awareness of human rights abuses and other social problems.

Good advertising is just an extension of PR: Apple has a new phone, Dominoes has a new pizza, Tide has a new detergent. A lot of people want to know about these things, so we try to tell them in a way that connects with them. Lots of advertising is awful, and predatory, and misleading, and harmful. But then there's stuff like the Old Spice Guy, or This Girl Can, or #LikeAGirl, or this GE lightbulb ad made by Tim and Eric. I'm sure you can name plenty of ads you love.

But holy shit, do I hate internet advertising.

It's a no-holds-barred, free-for-all, anything-goes wasteland. Banner ads are so ineffective that getting a 0.03% clickthrough rate is exceptionally good. "YOU'RE THE 1,000TH VISITOR!" and "SCIENTISTS HATE HER!" ads make the whole medium looks like a joke. Legitimate businesses have to comply with loads of standards and laws, but illegitimate ones operate on those same webpages, and try to trick you with fake download links or misleading ads. And the ads are getting increasingly bandwidth and processor intensive to the point where disabling them shows a marked increase in page load speeds.

I also hate what it has done to the internet. It's turned everything into clickbait. It's made eyeballs more important than quality. It's turned news into a race to get it out first, regardless of accuracy or integrity. I really miss when the internet was a place for hobbyists, and I think that's why I prefer reading comments and conversations on forums to "sponsored" content on Buzzfeed and the like.

They really need to figure how to monetize the net in a way that makes everyone happy, because pissing off consumers with awful ads doesn't work. I think letting people turn off this shit is awesome, though. It's forcing brands to create ads that people want to see, instead of making ads that people have to see.

Reddit itself is just a facade that links to all corners of the internet and consolidates conversation.

I admired their "hands-off" attitude. Yes, it led to some dark places with conversation that I disagree with - but that's why I could curate which subreddits I visit. And whether we're blocking unwanted conversations from the front page, or blocking them from the entire site, the outcome is the similar. The main difference, and one that I feel is important, is that in one instance I am the arbiter of what content is appropriate for me, and in the other instance it's a third party deciding for me.

Unfortunately, this policy was not helping them make money, and, like you said, they have a right to kick someone out of their house if they're being destructive. I understand their decision. They've put a lot of work and time and money into that site, and I recognize that they don't owe me - or any of their users - anything.