As someone else mentioned, ads are becoming less profitable. Particularly in light of the whole data collection biz, I’m starting to regard paywalls as a more “honest” type of monetisation. In a perfect world, they wouldn’t need to do either, and maybe there are better options, but I don’t fault them for it.

And how does the host pay for them?

I heard the Eldar have a really fascinating new-
Why are you all aiming at me?

Short version to save others a click: Proton’s CEO tweeted an endorsement of Trump’s FTC pick, going on to praise how apparently the Republicans are now the party for the “little guys” and crediting the ongoing antitrust proceedings to Trump’s first term.