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One thing to bear in mind (and to play a little 'devil's advocate') is that owning and operating a website costs money. And the larger it is/more storage space it uses, the higher that price becomes. That means there is a point where the owner inevitably needs to choose how the site can be made to support itself... or halt its growth, or shut it down.
That means some sort of monetization, to which there are three general options; Subscription/pay for use, Donation and hope you get enough funds year by year/month by month, or carrying advertising and bringing ad revenue.
Some would also posit merchandise, but online stores actually earn very little per unit sold, as overhead like production, shipping, packaging, shrinkage due to lost or stolen/frauded items, licensing, etc etc all cut in and take away from earnings. Unless the store does a steady, large volume of sales very little is gained. And, making it even harder this is very much a niche market so there is a small consumer-base, and most only buy things they need once. Other than herbs and candles, most tools of the proverbial trade last for many years. Some even get passed down for a generation or two.
While I agree there is a fine balance to be found between the presence/invasiveness of advertising, and the need to get people to click (as most ads pay per click only) I tend to find it the lesser of the possible evils.
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