By Ruby Yedavalli

In 2026, ads are everywhere. It's easy to miss, but on streaming services the amount of ads on a commercial break has increased; from thirty seconds to a minute, from a minute to two minutes. When watching a movie or sports game, the combined ad breaks can take up to fifteen minutes of the watching time. 

Several things contribute to the skyrocketing number of ads on streaming services. But does anyone actually buy the things that are advertised for or are they just a distraction? 

Ms. Smith, Expo said, “Oh yeah that looks cool! I wanna try that! The household products I use I found a long time ago because of ads." 

Meanwhile Sophia Li, 802 remarked, “No, I just skip them.” 

This may be due to the age difference between a student and a teacher but also due to if someone actually watches the ads. Assuming that the majority of people skip them on social media platforms, but some ads are unskippable which forces individuals to take them into consideration. When watching an ad for a movie or show people may be more interested.

Why are there so many ads? For starters the internet makes a lot of money off of them. Some companies make most of their money off of ads, especially free ones. A lot of streaming services have an ad free version that is only accessible if it is paid for, which is just a way to make more money. The streaming service Prime Video has an extra fee for no ads. 

Almost everything is advertised for, including consumer goods, medical treatments, fast food, and other programs. With the amount of time the average US citizen uses their phone being about five hours a day, people see up to four thousand ads a day! 

When asked if the amount of ads will continue to increase, Ms. Smith, Expo said, “It will. Especially on streaming services. I use ad Netflix. I also use Hulu which has longer ads. Like one minute and thirty seconds.” 

Sophia Li, 802, commented that, “Companies are getting more greedy.”

It doesn't help that advancing technology is progressing with speed. Ads can now be on any social media platform or streaming service. The internet can also use an individual's past search history to personalize the ads they see, making them more likely to buy the product. 

Some may call it disturbing, Sophia Li, 802 called it “a pain”, she also said "Personalized ones I might buy. It's still not good that they take personalized information.” 

Anyone’s watch history, search history, and even location can be used to personalize ads. Many people think this is an invasion of privacy and calls for a check on internet security. 

When talking about technology it is hard to avoid the subject of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI has become a tool that many are using, especially in the making of ads. Even the biggest companies are using it. For example, Cola Cola released a new version of their well known ad with santa drinking a coke. To the eyes, it is very obviously AI. Countless people feel this is a degrade in quality, some even calling it “creepy.” AI is being used more and more as its convenience grows. This will further boost the amount of ads viewed because companies will embrace the saving of time and money. 

After taking all this into consideration, ads can be interesting to watch because of the reasons behind them.