All you need is a niche topic, lots of content and possibly great knowledge of SEO.
I've had nearly 50 over the last 15 years and have only ever spent money on Google Ads
I think it all boils down to what the function of the website is. In my case most of the sites were e-commerce so having ads was more detrimental. If your site basically runs itself and you're not selling a product, service, or trying to flip the site I'm guessing ads are probably one of the few ways to be profitable.