>> once people started publishing books or whatever in the 1600s - the world runs on ads.

I remember seeing old books (early victorian era) that were printed with healthy "subsidize" from the ad revenue. They honestly looked very much alike any site without ad blocker looks now. And I had the feeling that some content of the book was sponsored as well. Kept mentioning specific shops by name.

I wonder what did we do right, to stop books from looking like that? Maybe it could help us fix internet issues.