I remember hearing as a kid that Americans would see thousands upon thousands of advertisements in their lifetime. I have not heard updated figures for years as entertainment habits have changed. Where are people seeing or hearing advertisements today?

I realized recently I see almost no ads on websites and limited ads on social media (and I do not use apps for social media). Because I use multiple ad blockers, I see no ad banners at the top of pages, ads on the sides of pages, and rarely see ads on videos.

Where I do see more ads is through streaming services. Because they now require paying more each month to eliminate ads, I see breaks while watching shows.

In terms of older media forms with ads, with TV (particularly live sports) and radio I can skip to another station during ads. I no longer subscribe to newspapers and magazines – even though I enjoy reading them – so I do not see print ads. I still get plenty of junk mail addressed to me.

Am I living a life with fewer advertisements compared to several decades ago or are the ads ever more present across a range of media? They might be there in product placements in TV shows or in how many baseball game plays on a radio broadcast are sponsored. Or I still drive past plenty of signs and billboards. (I was also recently in Times Square in New York City and it was full of ads.) Or many everyday items – water bottles, sports equipment, clothing, etc. – prominently features logos and branding.

The advertising industry is not going away in the third decade of the twenty-first century. Even as I and many others will claim that these advertisements do not affect us, there is a whole industry that will continue to find more ways to personalize ads, have them in all media forms, and find news ways to tailor these ads to our particular interests and settings.