@Platypus...
The funny thing about FOSS... its a false economy.
But back to the article's author's point.
If you run NoScript (The latest verision) you can see what scripts El Reg runs.
Why do they have Google Analytics and Google tag services? Could they not run their own analytics internally?
Free clue. This is why Google has a monopoly on the ad services ...
Then there's facebook. Why run js code from facebook.net?
The author is correct in his assertions. You may not know this unless you're old enough to remember the birth of the PC.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
