Where's the line? How much are you willing to compromise? Within the digital landscape, consumers use hundreds of free services, including: apps, programs, websites, social platforms and more. Although there is never a direct charge to your bank account, all of these services do in fact come with a price-the image or brand or product is forced into your visual field and your mind, whether you like it or not.

Argument 1: Who Cares?



Facebook can throw as many ads on a page as they want as long as I don't get billed for updating my status. Sure, it can be annoying to scroll past ads, or have to manually click an "X" so a window disappears, but that's the only way the service can be free. There has to be a way of paying for the upkeep, maintenance, improvements and tech upgrades to the operating system or platform.

Further, studies show digital consumers are just fine with the mix of free platforms loaded with ads. "Digital consumers are happy with the current online media model. In fact, 59% don't currently pay for access to digital media content, and 46% are prepared to keep it that way through advertising," reported Perry Simpson of DMnews.com.

Argument 2: My Experience is being Ruined by Non-Stop Ads



It's hard to tell if I'm on my social media page, or in the middle of Times Square with the constant flood of marketing. Buy this, upgrade to that, enhance, purchase, click, click, click! 80 percent of my screen is layered with "legal spam," approved by the search engines and social platforms because it makes them money. I understand sites need upkeep, but Wikipedia is massive and doesn't run ads. You could still make a million dollars if you just had one small ad in the corner. But no, you have to make a billion dollars with 20 ads on my page, all the time telling me I should be thankful for your "free" service.

Where do you stand? Post a comment and we can further the conversation.