I've also been able to eliminate the ads here. I don't see them in Firefox. I have also used the strategy others mentioned, by changing the themes.

It has saddened me that a handful of former regulars here have left because of the ads. I couldn't help but wonder if they attempted the strategies mentioned above. Also, it made me sad that ads were so repulsive to them that they felt the value of this online forum was not enough to warrant suffering ads. Of course I agree that ads are obnoxious, but unfortunately ads/marketing help pay bills for site owners and operators. Given this, my managing to eliminate the ads could be looked at as me lacking generosity? Expecting freebies.That decision of mine is a choice, too, just like leaving because of ads.

I know of sites like this that still operate without ads. Most instead occasionally request donations/contributions. The trouble with that is that many either can't afford to donate or simply don't.Those sites involved costs to the site owners that many forked out from their own pockets.

At least we can ignore ads in life. I would choose to have to ignore an ad over having to pay a membership fee. Or, maybe others would prefer a mandatory membership fee? If that was required here, I think the site would die out lickity split or become a near ghost town.

Places like Facebook? They have plenty of ads. They also have misinformation campaign stuff, too. You know. Russians and Q-Anon.

Perhaps the first response in the following may be informative: Why aren't domain names free when the web is free? - Quora