They are probably talking about Vanced which was before ReVanced. Vanced got popular so Google killed it. Up popped ReVanced shortly later.

I’ve been using the internet for over 24 years. I can tell you that the internet can survive without ads or paywalls. Ads and paywalls are a product of greed. Ads are way more efficient these days but many used to take up so much memory. I remember when AdBlock or whatever it was called came out. It made browsing the internet smoother.