The idea feels like sci-fi because you’re so used to it, imagining ads gone feels like asking to outlaw gravity. But humanity had been free of current forms of advertising for 99.9% of its existence. Word-of-mouth and community networks worked just fine. First-party websites and online communities would now improve on that.
The traditional argument pro-advertising—that it provides consumers with necessary information—hasn’t been valid for decades.
Advertising has grown into a monster. It’s pervasive. You seem to be defending the concept a lot, do you work in advertising? maybe you have better ideas as to how it should change to better address the problem the article charges advertising with.