I don’t use ad-blocking software here. I always come in through the front door. A lot of people do block ads and that is probably why we are seeing more and more “sponsored content.”
The ads did become bloated and slowed things down a lot for awhile. Safari now has a feature that stops Flash from auto-starting. It helps. This move is all about the users retrieving control. Ads have become a nuisance and a hazard. And what do you know, served by Google.