I don't know if this belongs in the actual article or not, but I was able to stop the game from loading online ads which appear at the bivouac and starting line by adding the following to my %WINDIR%\System32\drivers\etc\hosts
file.
127.0.0.1 anzusafeframe.azureedge.net 127.0.0.1 assets.anzuinfra.com 127.0.0.1 caps-server.anzu.io 127.0.0.1 emqx.anzuinfra.com 127.0.0.1 events.anzuinfra.com 127.0.0.1 l1-1.anzu.io 127.0.0.1 logic.anzuinfra.com 127.0.0.1 mgw-2.anzuinfra.com