Its not really the ads that are the signal so much as the fact that they are slapping ads onto it BEFORE it has developed enough to actually be a useful product. They have direct competition that is not ad supported and they just “aren’t there yet” in terms of making a product that everyone feels like they need to engage with regardless of ads. Slapping ads on something before its actually demonstrated the ability to succeed as a product is just rolling the dice to see if it makes money magically appear. Its desperation.