I decided that since they don't want me using the software of my choice to browse the website, I'd switch to the full intended experience. I'm only using the official software in its most updated form. When the experience is inferior to either web-browsing kbin, Lemmy instances, or Mastodon instances (or using Tusky to browse local views of mastodon instances), I just don't bother using it. When the ads bother me, I don't bother using it.

Then again, I also engage with every ad. After all, an advertiser decided that my interests must be in line with theirs, the least I can do for them is click on the linkout, and then ignore all upsells and monetary conversions. After all, if I've never spent money on Reddit, and have been a subscriber of FMHY and Piracy, the platform and the advertisers must know I'll never make a monetary conversion; so they must be targeting me for some other reason.

In a more realistic sense, I click on the ads because most advertisers pay on CPC, and by clicking the ads and not converting, you drive up the cost-per-acquisition, which means the campaign is weaker and poorly optimized. It's also a problem for brand-awareness plays because when you see the ad get linkouts without conversion or remarketable data, you can be pretty sure that people are now aware of the brand and will actively avoid it. It's a challenge all marketing faces, actually. You have to get them in a targeted way or you risk burning a future customer.