I run a website with ads, but just basic Google adsense. Google still has a leak or two of malicious garbage here and there. Adsense shits itself pretty often and cost per click plummets, so sites are forced to open up to other publishers to make ends meet. If Google can't handle policing theirs, what do you think other publishers do?

The reality is, a website isn't a charity. People have to spend crazy hours running it, and in Wowhead's case, that bill and time investment gets high. Could you work your 9-5 for free? Of course not. You need money, they need money. Just because they aren't knockin out license plates at a factory doesn't mean it's not a job.

How much do you all use Wowhead? Obviously a lot if this post happens every few months. They don't have a patreon that I know of, but you can support them and remove ads with their premium service. Why not throw some money their way? skip a burger and support a project that has been your go-to wow database for almost a decade? I know everyone on the internet thinks everything should be free and they should be entitled to everything, but that isn't how reality works. If WoWhead can't make money, they can't survive. It's as simple as that.