• jjjalljs@ttrpg.network
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    5 days ago

    I feel like contextual ads, where you serve ads based on the surrounding content instead of who the individual user is would be about as effective and tremendously less expensive, complicated, and invasive.

    Run football ads on football websites. Run music ads on music websites. That’s how it works in TV, radio, and so on and has for years.

    • underisk@lemmy.ml
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      5 days ago

      wait do you mean its not useful to try and sell me another fridge because I just bought a fridge?

  • theparadox@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    There is actually an argument that advertisers like Google are abusing micro targeting to extract advertising revenue from clients while, at least in some cases, delivering few actual new customers.

    Here’s the process.

    1. Google sees that your profile (browsing habits, demographics, search patterns, etc) suggest you are interested in product A.
    2. Google blasts you with advertisements for product A, essentially marking your browser session and claiming you as a recipient of their advertising. Ever look at a particular product and find you are being advertised for that product incessantly for a while?
    3. If you happen to buy product A around the time that your session was shown an advertisement for that product, Google claims you as a conversion and gets paid for convincing you to buy the product. Advertising works!

    So if Google’s algorithm thinks you are already going to buy product A, they show you an ad for product A constantly because it means they’ll claim you as an advertising success and get paid extra.

  • hakunawazo@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Why… isn’t he thrown out of a high building window in the last panel? I’m a bit disappointed now.
    (OMG I sound almost like a Russian dictator).

  • mapu@slrpnk.net
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    5 days ago

    Let’s be realistic. This will not stop under capitalism. Any company that doesn’t exploit their users and employees for the most amount of profit will get outcompeted and driven out of the market by a different company that does.

  • itkovian@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Yeah Alan, be realistic. We are too addicted to sniffing up consumer data to just give up. Even if internet ads, targeted or otherwise, are not really liked by anyone.