This kind of mealy-mouthed argument against web advertising blanketed within a conspiratorial scheme of the hundred years war (“collateral damage?” What a cruel metaphor! ) between Apple and Google doesn’t withstand scrutiny. Rapacious capitalism is the petri dish for these conflicts. You and Medium can’t have it both ways. In the grand marketplace of contending ideas a dependence on ads from vitamins to car insurance is not very appealing to me — your audience. If this site and its contributors’ has a ‘value’ to its readers then the only answer which will separate the winners from the losers is a paid subscription. Any other path is doomed.