What I meant was that I'm surprised no ads appear on the Strava website or apps. I expected that the data was used for targeted ads that appear via Google and Chrome, possibly on Facebook as well.
I suppose the lack of apparent ads on Strava itself is to minimize complaints from freeloaders who want free service but don't want to see ads because ... Marxism or capitalism or something, I dunno.
Anyway, I don't care if Strava uses my data for targeted ads. Fair trade for a useful service. I don't upload anything to Strava I wouldn't want known anyway. Heck, I enable Google tracking of my movements by default, so I have a record of everywhere I've been. Very helpful as an objective witness when I was hit by a car in May. And it helps me document my medical appointments. Sometimes an appointment varies from an actual visit, so the Google Timeline helps me keep an accurate journal of which clinics I actually visited, how long I was there, etc.