That would be a harder choice if ads were better targeted to my goals, but ads based on tracking just aren't that helpful in my experience. They may work to get people to buy things, but that's a separate axis. Ads are not for the consumer's benefit (any benefit for them is incidental). They are designed to benefit the advertiser.
It's not just a choice between relevant and irrelevant ads, it's that plus many more factors. Even if ads were super accurate, I'd prefer irrelevant ads to having my personal habits finely catalogued in order to subconsciously affect my buying or voting choices. And it is subconscious. Anecdotally, I recently noticed I'd started to want a particular type of personal care accessory. I realized the only reason this happened is because I'd been subjected to dozens of ads for this item over several weeks. I have zero need for this item, zero interest in owning one four weeks ago (even though I already knew the product existed), and nobody would even know the difference if I had one or not!
It's not just a choice between relevant and irrelevant ads, it's that plus many more factors. Even if ads were super accurate, I'd prefer irrelevant ads to having my personal habits finely catalogued in order to subconsciously affect my buying or voting choices. And it is subconscious. Anecdotally, I recently noticed I'd started to want a particular type of personal care accessory. I realized the only reason this happened is because I'd been subjected to dozens of ads for this item over several weeks. I have zero need for this item, zero interest in owning one four weeks ago (even though I already knew the product existed), and nobody would even know the difference if I had one or not!