Ads are vying for attention, true! I usually dislike commercial ads as much as anyone, especially online advertising, especially forced ads that block the thing I’m there for. That said, I don’t buy that they attack my agency and sovereignty, that’s a bit of a stretch. Online, a lot of free content comes with ads, and nobody’s forcing me to choose free content, so online at least I can avoid a lot of ads by avoiding the free content that comes with ads. When I’m not online, ads like posters or billboards rarely if ever block me in any way.

HN comments are also vying for our attention and pushing narratives, so are they ads and are they a personal attack? Usually not for money, but you didn’t make a distinction and GP comment was pointing at ads like posters for free community events. The community dance poster does want your attention, of course, but is it an evil personal attack, or just information that you can do as you please with or ignore? Is it sometimes something you did want to know, and advertises something you would like?