You're both right, but OP is more right. Targeted plumbing ads elicit slightly higher click-through rates and purchases. Let's say 0.12% instead of 0.1% clicks.

You're both right, but OP is more right. Targeted plumbing ads elicit slightly higher click-through rates and purchases. Let's say 0.12% instead of 0.1% clicks. So in the ad community's eyes, the targeting is "effective." But for 99.88% of people seeing those plumbing ads -- including many folks who have already bought their sinks -- such ads are stupid distractions. The net result: there's a big surge in the use of ad blockers, and the swamp is starting to drain. Another case in point: I now follow Twitter trending reports for Yokohama, even though I live 5,000 miles away and can barely read a few characters of hiragana. It's my primitive hack to disable the trending "service." I'd rather have incomprehensible squiggles on a corner of my screen than a bunch of garbage content that's clamoring for attention, even though it's irrelevant to me.