> ..but they are not giving the product for free

They are. Not a single cent changed hands.

> they are putting ads on it

Still free. Attention is not a currency you can pay for things with. Bundling advertisements with free products doesn't magically turn them into paid products.

Further discussion is not possible unless you accept this.

..and putting a money basket in a farm stand doesn't mean the produce costs money?

And yes, advertisements definitely do cover hard costs like hosting (serving you is not free) and paying for the time/expertise to produce the content.

I don't know how you convinced yourself that digital data is worthless, but it's not and actually costs money to make and serve. Just like everything else you (hopefully) have no problem covering the cost of (you don't just take from farm stands, do you?)