You can always contribute to the running of the forum to get rid of them.
I think the point being made is that the desire or need to monetise, to an overbearing level, may put off the new or the casual user as the site's usability and functionality may suffer. The risk is that you end up with a diminishing rate of page views and decline in revenues, that relate to the level of viewership. A vicious cicle.
No, I do not nor never have paid a subscription to this site, or other similar, and it's predecessor (Boo ! Hiss !). Nor have I ever, or ever will, use ad blockers. Rules of the game. There is a satisfaction to, hopefully, giving as much as taking from a group such as this. So, dues paid IMAO. It is a sad but inevitable fact that the world seems to be moving on from the web based "forum" with the rise of social media platforms (and their algorithms). They provide an alternate means of obtaining and disemitating information and advise to specific groups. Something commented on a lot in maistream media.
I last paid for a newspaper when I bought my first truly portable 10" android tablet, about 18 years ago, Windows laptops before. Thankfully my national daily of choice, displayed there, has never chosen to duck behind a pay wall, well not yet. But then what is the worth of a printed "daily" in the 24 hour news cycle now ? However, in the same time the two main sports I follow can only be viewed live by having a NOW (Sky) subscription, so I have one, £20 a month thank you. Likewise my favourite "sci-fi" franchises, but you can game those while still paying legitimately. But this all is really just an extension of the subscription format that we have used for decades for specialised publications (not those !) like the railway (printed/digital) and motorsport (digital) I have long paid for. Max
P.S. Yes, I am a fully paid up BBC licence fee payer, nearly 50 years now. Would not have it any other way. I am such a sanctimonious git.
