申論題

Part I: 英翻中

2. Welcome to the Ad-free Internet
        For a preview of what lies wrapped beneath the Christmas tree, log in to Facebook. The social network tracks its users' behavior so intimately that it is able to personalize adverts with a precision that sometimes verges on mind-reading. Its ad-stuffed newsfeed at this time of year embodies the internet's great trade-off: consumers enjoy free services, but must submit to bombardment with commercials from companies that know who has been naughty or nice.
        Yet increasingly, those consumers with deep enough pockets are getting the chance to escape the online admen. Last month Facebook's owner, Meta, began offering customers in Europe ad-free subscriptions to Facebook and its sister network, Instagram.
        Social networks are not the only medium allowing the group that advertisers most covet—the better-off with money—to splurge to wriggle beyond their reach. From video and audio to news and gaming, a combination of regulation and technological change is encouraging media companies to offer alternatives. As the rich opt out of commercials on some platforms, advertisers are therefore looking for new places to catch them. (The Economist, Dec. 16, 2023)