Well, it's not like most visitors have adblock disabled except for websites with annoying ads.
So, for those visitors who have adblock, you don't do any more harm by serving annoying ads.
For those who don't have adblock, well, you do do harm, but the cost gets spread over the entire ad industry, which is why adblock usage has grown [0]. On the other hand, the money made from serving the annoying ad and getting the impression comes directly to you (and not the industry).
In short, benefit is immediate to you. Damage is delayed and doesn't come directly to you.
Anyway, I despise this kind of reasoning.
ps. People who worked there seemed quite decent. And that somehow showed in part of their biz practices too. E.g. they intentionally refrained from tracking visitors.
So, for those visitors who have adblock, you don't do any more harm by serving annoying ads.
For those who don't have adblock, well, you do do harm, but the cost gets spread over the entire ad industry, which is why adblock usage has grown [0]. On the other hand, the money made from serving the annoying ad and getting the impression comes directly to you (and not the industry).
In short, benefit is immediate to you. Damage is delayed and doesn't come directly to you.
Anyway, I despise this kind of reasoning.
ps. People who worked there seemed quite decent. And that somehow showed in part of their biz practices too. E.g. they intentionally refrained from tracking visitors.
[0] https://www.statista.com/statistics/804008/ad-blocking-reach...