I often forget how browsing the web looks for most people. Can't understand why they put up with it, or do they just think that it's part and parcel of the internet to have every page look like a slot machine from hell?

I turned off my adblocker on 404 Media since I wanted to support them, I loaded one new tab in an article and it maxed my CPU at 100% for so long that I paused and had to figure out what was spiking my computer.

Immediately turned it off.

Yes, in the same way constant software malfunctions and errors are normal and tolerated.

Maybe it’s on purpose to keep people addicted to installing apps

You "often forget", perhaps because it's been a very long time since you've emerged from your bunker.

"Most people" are not even using the web, they are using the app, and getting very targeted ads, based on their behavior. The web is just some place where auxiliary transactions happen.

Text + Ads stopped paying the bills years ago. (long before chatgpt) If you want to read good stuff, it's mostly behind a paywall now. (I like reading stuff, so I pay for it.)

Sounds like you are landing on bottom-tier legacy webpages. And your 'slot machine' ads are how they profiled you, so you are perhaps telling on yourself.

> every page

That's a bit hyperbolic. The areas of the internet I frequent do not have egregious ads (for example, this page). Areas where I really would like good ad-blocking (youtube) are often not covered by these ad blockers. Thankfully Youtube Premium isn't too expensive and solves that issue.

Maybe it's better these days but I always found browser extensions (including uBlock) had a pretty big performance hit, so I've always shied away from them (with the exception of a password manager).