What if we made advertising illegal?

Regulate Surveillance vs. Ban Ads Entirely

• Many argue the core harm is not advertising itself but surveillance: data brokers, cross-site tracking, profiling, and algorithmic “engagement” systems.
• Proposed focus: ban or heavily tax sale/use of personal data, restrict targeting based on user profiles, and treat tracking as a liability or “pollution” to be measured and taxed.
• Some suggest that without surveillance-based targeting, much of today’s ad-driven attention economy would collapse on its own.

How Would the Internet Be Funded?

• One camp thinks most ad-funded services (search, social, video, news) would die or become paywalled; others expect subscriptions, public funding, or co-ops to step in.
• Microtransaction ideas resurface (pay cents per article/app), but people note bootstrapping, fee structure, and gameable incentives are hard.
• Donations and non-profit models (forums, wikis, personal blogs) are cited as working examples, but likely insufficient at current scale.

What Counts as “Advertising”? Free Speech & Edge Cases

• Huge debate over drawing a line:
  • Is a waiter suggesting wine an ad? A shop sign? A catalog? Search results? Sponsorships? Influencers? PR?
  • Many fear vague definitions would enable selective enforcement and political abuse.
• US-centric comments stress commercial speech is constitutionally protected; a blanket ban would likely require amending fundamental law.
• Distinction proposed between:
  • Paid/broadcast/unsolicited commercial speech vs.
  • Requested, contextual, or one-to-one recommendations.

Economic & Competitive Effects

• Critics worry a ban entrenches incumbents: big brands already known, control shelf space, own media, or can vertically integrate “owned” channels.
• Others argue advertising is largely zero-sum and wasteful: if no one advertised, discovery would happen via search, reviews, and word-of-mouth, freeing resources for product quality.

Targeted Restrictions Many Agree On

• Frequently suggested “first steps”:
  • Ban/limit billboards and other visual pollution.
  • Outlaw targeted and political ads, or at least data-driven targeting.
  • Strictly regulate false/misleading ads and dark patterns.
  • Make ad spend non-deductible or tax ad revenue as a social “bad.”

Philosophical Split

• Enthusiasts see ads as mass psychological manipulation eroding autonomy, democracy, and mental health.
• Skeptics see them as flawed but necessary for discovery, competition, and free/cheap media, and prefer reform over prohibition.