It's gotten to the stage where the game is unplayable due to the amount of advertisements being produced - it's like every second click I'm getting a popup - which is increasingly annoying. I'm using a PC - I can only imagine what this is like for those who play on their phone.

Fix this please JDB.

Yep it's just as bad on phone.

It only actually got bad when this became subscription. JDB is applying pressure to those who don’t pay by inundating us with pop ups.

Kind of maniacal and underhanded.

Not really.
Such services are outsourced and beyond JDB's control.
The staggering of ad-loading across all sites big and small that trick site users into clicking on an add while wanting to click on information as the site totally loads slow time, jumping and jagging, is consumer abuse.
There are Usary laws that protect consumers, and the enforcement of consumer protections based on such Usary laws are non-existent.
Blame Congress - every congress since 2000 and especially every Congress post EU web privacy laws for failing to take action.

I guarantee user privacy will not be a focus for the new administration as the DOJ and CPA will be gutted and rendered toothless in favor of corporate profits.
In fact, consumer abuse in the US will proliferate over the next 4 years as the new administration has no intention of updating the 1974 Consumer Protection Act.
In fact - the incoming administration has every intention of removing the 1974 CPA.

Additional information: "The primary internet privacy law code in the United States is the "Privacy Act of 1974," which is codified as 5 U.S.C. § 552a, governing how federal agencies can collect, maintain, use, and disclose personal information about individuals within their systems of records; essentially providing citizens with the right to access and amend their personal data held by government agencies."

Trump worked very hard in his first administration to overturn the very limited consumer protections provided by the Privacy Act. IN fact, Trump's previous presidency worked the DOJ to block any enhancements to and to OVERTURN and remove all consumer protections of the Privacy Act.
Removing the 1974 Privacy Act is a focus of the incoming DJT administration, just as it was a focus during his last administration.
Pro capitalism is never pro consumer.
It's not an anti Trump thing - it's about being against bad consumer policy.
I'll note the current presidency also failed to enact any legislation regarding the matter of user privacy on regarding advertisements and data collection.
Nothing has been done in the United States to insure user and/or enhance consumer privacy since 1974.
Every administration since Ford in '74 has failed we, the consumer - regardless of party affiliation.
But this trump guy wants to remove the 1974 Privacy Act entirely, not enhance it, nor let it be as is.
Much worse.

The entire Eu, Mexico, Canada - and most of the rest of the major 2nd world and 1st world governments passed laws relevant to and enhancing consumer protections on the internet, as the United States de-legislated such consumer privacy.

JDB subscribes to an ad provider for revenue, and it is the ad provider that is of fault.
Adverts have become overbearing because the US has no user privacy protections.

We constantly click on a link only to find a staggered site loaded ads first and that link second, click what we think is information only to find that's there's actually a staggerred ad loading at that place of interaction.

Browsers are way out of line in misleading users to ads when the user thinks they are clicking on a headline only to find that the page - even at my TB connection, is force staggering ads first and coercing users to think that page is fully loaded.
The next time I click on an informational link only to discover i clicked on the staggered advertisement hiding yet fully loaded prior to the headline will not be the first time.

Blaming JDB in this case is without warrant and off the target.
He cannot help the ad provider abuse towards US consumers absent of privacy laws any more than any major website used in the US. MFN is small ball, yet even the big league companies have the same problem when it comes to targeted ads that force user mis-clicks that lead to adverts through staggered page loading.

Time for bed - this is macro level marketing that destroys the user and the creator experience that i just dont have the time nor the space to write about and explain here in this forum.

In the end, accept that there is no privacy in the United States on the web due to a critical lack of legislation, and that lack of privacy laws are exactly why you and i have the experiences you mentioned OP.

Additionally, MFN is still not compliant with EU internet Privacy laws.
Nor does it need to be.
Brutal.

and adblock plus pwns MFN.
https://adblockplus.org/

Erased everything. Too much. No one ever said there needed to be ads in here in the first place, it is a choice to bring that in. JDB also expressed in a monthly update that the ads revenue was relatively low, likely due to low traffic, which was part of the reason for subscription model.

No need to get into consumer protection laws etc if there is an “yes/no” option to have ads or not. Someone makes that decision first.

TBH, the ads don’t even bother me on the phone. The less you login, the less of an issue it is. JDB made it easy for me to login less when he adopted subscription model.