This is actually a pretty solid example of a flaw in free market economics. Marketing can increase and decrease knowledge and there's not a strong market force pushing things the right direction.
I thought about what you said and I think you are correct. But since we don't live in an ideal rational world do you agree that without advertisements the market can fail? How would new products even enter the limelight?
Without advertisements? Word of mouth, neutral databases of information (these are hard to create in practice without at least some gaming, but i think things like the yellow pages or government operated lists of services get close)
