Tucows offers its users a bit of peace away from all that advertising noise but is going ad-free really that wise?

They are inescapable. They know what you’re looking at, what you just bought and probably where you live. They are everywhere, you’re probably looking at one right now and you might not even know it.

Internet advertising of course. You really can’t go anywhere now on the World Wide Web without someone trying to sell you something and even the best ad blockers let a few sneak through the cracks. Ads are everywhere; it’s a fact of the internet and the price we pay to enjoy free content.

But one company has recognised the browser’s plight. (NASDAQ:TCX ), the network access provider, has purged its software downloads site .com/downloads of all advertising.

“Where software download sites in general have a reputation for deceptive ads, hidden download buttons, pop-ups, flypaper, toolbars and other such Internet nastiness, is breaking free,” it said in a statement Tuesday.

“We’d rather have the name associated with good; with a belief in the power of the Internet to affect positive change. An ad-heavy site that packages browser toolbars along with every download isn’t something we want people to think of when they hear ," said chief executive Elliot Noss.

“We don’t lightly walk away from opportunities or revenue,” added Noss.

And what an opportunity advertising has been for website owners.

Last year brought in advertising revenues of over $17bn.

PwC expects the online advertising industry to overtake TV in size by 2019, reaching $83.9bn a year with an annual growth rate of 11.15%.

But Tucow was keen to buck the trend. As a downloads veteran, the company has provided software, network access and mobile services for over 25 years and has seen the internet grow right from its infancy to the all-powerful titan it is today.

It seems a quarter century of cat memes, Rick-rolling and hashtags has taught the group a valuable lesson. The best things in life are ad-free.