There's advertising, and then there's advertising. Maybe a hundred years ago ads were about product discovery, they are not about that anymore. For most of the needs we have there are already products so you can just discover the product categories via well... interaction with other people. A new class of product gets often gets its spread organically, or at least via product-discovery-ads.
So for example, you didn't learn about the existence of cameras via ads - you probably saw your parents or friends shooting photos when you were a child. And you know that the ads of cameras you see on the web are offering subpar products, and you're better off searching for a camera that fulfills your needs yourself.
Another example, of a relatively new category - iBeacons. You probably read about them on the Internet, or maybe in a magazine like The Economist. Sure, maybe you read an infomercial, but what you've learend is that there is this new category of products, and that they can help you make phones more context-aware. But if you're thinking about what beacons to buy, you are again better off researching yourself and consciously ignoring anything that looks like an ad.
I don't totally disagree, but it's worth noting that when I read about iBeacons "on the internet," that was likely just a sophisticated ad, disguised as a review or blog article.
It's definitely better than the ads that ghostery blocked, but ads aren't going away and they were still important to the discovery process.
So for example, you didn't learn about the existence of cameras via ads - you probably saw your parents or friends shooting photos when you were a child. And you know that the ads of cameras you see on the web are offering subpar products, and you're better off searching for a camera that fulfills your needs yourself.
Another example, of a relatively new category - iBeacons. You probably read about them on the Internet, or maybe in a magazine like The Economist. Sure, maybe you read an infomercial, but what you've learend is that there is this new category of products, and that they can help you make phones more context-aware. But if you're thinking about what beacons to buy, you are again better off researching yourself and consciously ignoring anything that looks like an ad.