In your ethical framework, are all attempts at persuading someone to change their behavior unethical? What advocacy/awareness increasing behaviors are ethically acceptable?
What if an ad is for a product that someone wants, and is beneficial to them by helping them find a product they were not aware of?
> are all attempts at persuading someone to change their behavior unethical
Same answer as a sibling comment. It's unethical to take advantage of a person's psychological blind spots or weaknesses to turn a profit.
> What if an ad is for a product that someone wants
Do they want it prior to viewing the ad? If not, the ad is creating a psychological desire for something not previously needed or wanted.
Or did they pull a trick like a sibling commenter called out - searching for "good USB drive" and providing an ad. The ad takes advantage of being shown in response to a keywords that implies a level of quality of the product that isn't substantiated. There's no technical reviews that demonstrate that it's good, or even suitable to the task at hand. The only thing that actually sets it apart is how much was paid to put it in front of the searcher's eyes.
What if an ad is for a product that someone wants, and is beneficial to them by helping them find a product they were not aware of?