Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's the real problem. Being aggressively annoying works . Dark patterns work. Popups that grab your attention work. Flashing text conveying urgency works. Thumbnails with open-mouth YouTube-face work. Moving buttons around so people mis-click works. Tiny [X] buttons that make people accidentally click an ad work. You're never going to convince someone to stop doing something that is making them money.
Spamming image based penny stocks emails also worked; doesn't make it right. Advertising should.be illegal.
I dislike advertising as much as the next guy but wouldn't go so far as making it illegal