I mean, showing random ads before or during things is pretty much what sustained most television and radio for a number of decades.

And now they aren’t random.

If you’ve been watching influencers on youtube or tiktok, they know a lot more about what to show you. And whatever they’ve been talking about, they can shoehorn an appropriate ad in.

Then you consider the cost which is a fraction of a penny per eyeball, so even nudging only one in 20,000 targeted views, of an audience who are interested in your type of product is probably going to be profitable.

Think of email phishing scams. It seems insane that anyone has ever fallen for thr Nigerian prince thing but all they need is one success every so often and it’s profitable.