Advertising has its place. I understand subsidizing a "free" product with ads is a great way to help keep the lights on. I know that this has been bastardized and that even paid versions of some products also include ads. But I'm OK with the model and its purist form. (free = ads, paid = no ads). Sitting through ads is holding up your end of the bargain. Having your data mined is also keeping up your end of the bargain. This may sound weird coming from somebody so pro-privacy.
Ever since the inception of Gmail, Google has made the model clear. Free email and storage space in exchange for mining your data.
When I heard Brave was releasing a stripped-down version of their browser and charging $60 for it (the Linux version is free, BTW). I got a bit giddy. (But I'm probably not gonna pay $60 for a browser.)
Web browsers have different ways of making money. Chrome mines your data, while Firefox has a Google search deal. Using Safari means you've already paid to be in the Apple ecosystem.
Brave makes money through optional services rather than tracking users, like its opt-in Brave Rewards ads system where users can earn BAT, ads in Brave Search, and paid add-ons like VPN and AI features. The core browser stays privacy-focused, while revenue comes from these separate, optional products built around it.
You can download the free version and trim all these services away, leaving you with a browser similar to the one they're charging $60 for. But this is a way of opting out of monetization entirely, not just hiding it. For some of us that goes a long way.
If this kind of model is your thing, I'd suggest checking out Kagi, a paid search engine that doesn't track or your data and offers a range of customization options without ads or sponsored results.
When there's only one way to pay, you're not really a customer. You're inventory. The ad supported web didn't become a problem because ads exist, it became a problem because somewhere along the way the deal stopped being a fair one. It went from being a transaction to being a trap.
I think this points to a simple truth. Money, attention, or data, there's always a cost. The end user should have choice between the three. Let me pick my own poison.