I have witnessed these "optimizations" taking place in the previous ad-tech-startup I worked at. The story goes like this, everything was (almost) fine, the pro

I have witnessed these "optimizations" taking place in the previous ad-tech-startup I worked at. The story goes like this, everything was (almost) fine, the product worked and it wasn't obtrusive. But, the numbers (CTR, conversions, etc..) were a bit low, and since the revenue of the company were based on these metrics ('cause they are easy to collect and analyse), someone was tasked to find ways to increase them. Of course, this is where everything goes through the door, because the easiest way to increase CTR/conversions is by adopting shady techniques like almost-nude-model or underwear pictures, pop-ups (@#$&%$#!), modals, etc.. I can see multiple reasons why advertising like that is doomed to fail. First is the business model; pricing for performance is not an option. Second is the people; you gotta get rid of the nagging layer of incompetence/ignorance of the ones making decisions. Last, the more business advertisers are losing, the more they are using shady techniques. In the end, better let the whole industry crash hard and fast, so we can build something better after.