Ofttimes people are sufficiently anti-ad that this point won't resonate well. I'm personally mostly in that camp in that with relatively few exceptions money seems to make the parts of the web I care about worse (it's hard to replace passion, and wading through SEO-optimized AI drivel to find a good site is a lot of work). Giving them concrete examples of sites which would go away can help make your point.
E.g., Sheldon Brown's bicycle blog is something of a work of art and one of the best bicycle resources literally anywhere. I don't know the man, but I'd be surprised if he'd put in the same effort without the "brand" behind it -- thankful readers writing in, somebody occasionally using the donate button to buy him a coffee, people like me talking about it here, etc.
But even your example gets worse with AI potentially - the "upsell" of his blog isn't paid posts but more subscribers so there will be thankful readers, a few donators, people talking about it. If the only interface becomes an AI summary of his work without credit, it's much more likely he stops writing as it'll seem like he's just screaming into the void
He's that widely respected that amongst those who repair bikes (I maintain a fleet of ~10 for my immediate family) he is simply known as "Saint Sheldon".
I agree that specific examples help, though I think the ones that resonate most will necessarily be niche. As a teen, I loved Penny Arcade, and watched them almost die when the bottom fell out of the banner-ad market.
Now, most of the value I find in the web comes from niche home-improvement forums (which Reddit has mostly digested). But even Reddit has a problem if users stop showing up from SEO.
E.g., Sheldon Brown's bicycle blog is something of a work of art and one of the best bicycle resources literally anywhere. I don't know the man, but I'd be surprised if he'd put in the same effort without the "brand" behind it -- thankful readers writing in, somebody occasionally using the donate button to buy him a coffee, people like me talking about it here, etc.