I think he's talking about the freedoms that ads take away. You don't ask to see the ad or the category of products it advertises, but someone found a way to show it to you anyway through some deliberate automated system, trying to steal your attention from something you are actually focused on doing at the moment and focus it on something else, distracting you and wasting energy and time.
How is that any different from a billboard, or a person suggesting you try a new food?
The only difference is that you're calling the web ads automated, which isn't always true (especially in the context were discussing, which is non-personalized ads), and not clearly distinct. Why is an algorithm on a computer vying for your attention worse than an algorithm used to place billboard ads?
They're all vying for your attention in a way you didn't explicitly request. The idea that internet ads are somehow different, and not just {better/worse/more effective depending on your perspective} doesn't follow for me.
Billboards are pretty different. It's like if websites had a separate page with ads where you go if you are curious or bored, not doing anything important.
And people suggesting something is on the whole another level. They have empathy, know how to behave, when they can approach you, can learn when not to bother you, etc.
