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I think there still is a big opportunity for ad companies that try to actually show stuff the user might interested in. Let me explain. Let's say you are an am

by geff82 10y ago

I think there still is a big opportunity for ad companies that try to actually show stuff the user might interested in. Let me explain. Let's say you are an amateur astronomer, like me. You have subscribed to a paper magazine about astronomy, like me. If, again, you are like me, then you also read the magazine for the ads in it. Ads showing new telescopes, ads talking about astronomy expeditions, ads for the astronomy club. It is advertisement on the one hand, but still relevant information for my hobby. The companies that buy ads for a longer period burn their brand into my brain, in the "relevant" section of it. Now let's talk about how this would be on the web. When I visit a site about astronomy, I can expect the ads to show: flight offers for the business trip I recently googled. SAS software because I recently did a certification with them and visited their website. Amazon ads showing me business books I recently searched there. But what they often do not show: relevant, juicy astronomy related ads. And when they do, the ad is gone the next time I refresh the page replaced by something else. The ads on the web are most often totally out of context. They might be shown to you because of your recorded behavior before, but still they are totally irrelevant. Probably running an ad network with great ads would be much more manual work than running the next past-behavior based network that tries to mine user data for new ideas. But at least for special interest sites, it could be a gold mine.

etherealG 10y ago
I think you're missing the point of how current targeted advertising works. The person paying for the advertising is the one choosing when/where to show it to you. They are intentionally getting in your way with something irrelevant, since it suits their campaign goals. What you describe is a system where the consumer has control over how they are advertised to, but that only works when you are the one with power in the situation. If you use a service for free, like a website, your eyeballs are the service being sold, and the advertiser is going to utilise that service in his interest. That includes putting ads you "don't like" in front of you, that actually do influence your chances of buying that product, on average, in an upward trend.
- Androider 10y ago
  As an advertiser, I would love to only show relevant ads. Current methods for targeted advertising are extremely broad and ineffective, as in: females 35-44, interested in travel, living in Texas. Want to target hobby astronomers who watch a specific Youtube channel? Impossible. Cloud developers who follow the same 3 tell-tale Twitter accounts that clearly define the group? No can do. People at the big 4 in SV with Go in their resume on LinkedIn? Pfff, you wish. All the data to serve truly relevant ads is there, but advertising networks do not offer the type of targeting required. Today if you want to reach a specific audience you have to make a native advertising deal with the content creator, which is outside the budget and skillset of most advertisers.
  - AznHisoka 10y ago
    I think this is because: 1) If they allowed you to target such a narrow niche, you'll be turned off when you see there's only XXX people total. And you'll be even more turned off when you see you generated 2 clicks out of those XXX people. But when you see the total reach of such a broad demographic is X million people you get excited. 2) It's hard to reach such a specific demographic. Only Facebook perhaps might have that granular an information about people who view their ads.
    - Androider 10y ago
      1) I think this is definitely the case, but with the broad group 90+% of the clicks turn out to be fraudulent in my experience. Unfortunately the advertising networks have little incentive to fix it, but the current state is ripe for disruption. 2) As an advertiser I'd like to define the demographics in very simple terms of white-listing on the platform. Twitter doesn't need to find out who are cloud developers: I'll tell the 2-3 twitter accounts the target audience must be following, which I know for a fact makes the followers also cloud developers. I don't need YouTube to figure out who are astronomers: I'll tell the channels astronomers subscribe to etc.
      - AznHisoka 10y ago
gregmac 10y ago
> flight offers for the business trip I recently googled. SAS software because I recently did a certification with them and visited their website. Amazon ads showing me business books I recently searched there. Really? My experience is much more: Hotels/flights to a place I went to weeks/months ago and am not planning on going to again. Ads asking me to sign up for a service I am signed up to. Amazon ads for something I just purchased (often the exact thing I purchased). From Amazon. For weeks.
- geff82 10y ago
  Absolutely true. It goes all directions.
- piva00 10y ago
  I really don't get this model of travel ads... I have the same experience, even with what I consider "good" travel sites like Hipmunk: I went to the US once in 2015 on vacations, to this day I still get the occasional spam e-mail telling me about good offers to this or that airport that I just used as a connecting point on my trip and I don't ever plan on going back.

by geff82 10y ago

etherealG 10y ago

I think you're missing the point of how current targeted advertising works. The person paying for the advertising is the one choosing when/where to show it to you. They are intentionally getting in your way with something irrelevant, since it suits their campaign goals. What you describe is a system where the consumer has control over how they are advertised to, but that only works when you are the one with power in the situation. If you use a service for free, like a website, your eyeballs are the service being sold, and the advertiser is going to utilise that service in his interest. That includes putting ads you "don't like" in front of you, that actually do influence your chances of buying that product, on average, in an upward trend.

Androider 10y ago
As an advertiser, I would love to only show relevant ads. Current methods for targeted advertising are extremely broad and ineffective, as in: females 35-44, interested in travel, living in Texas. Want to target hobby astronomers who watch a specific Youtube channel? Impossible. Cloud developers who follow the same 3 tell-tale Twitter accounts that clearly define the group? No can do. People at the big 4 in SV with Go in their resume on LinkedIn? Pfff, you wish. All the data to serve truly relevant ads is there, but advertising networks do not offer the type of targeting required. Today if you want to reach a specific audience you have to make a native advertising deal with the content creator, which is outside the budget and skillset of most advertisers.
- AznHisoka 10y ago
  I think this is because: 1) If they allowed you to target such a narrow niche, you'll be turned off when you see there's only XXX people total. And you'll be even more turned off when you see you generated 2 clicks out of those XXX people. But when you see the total reach of such a broad demographic is X million people you get excited. 2) It's hard to reach such a specific demographic. Only Facebook perhaps might have that granular an information about people who view their ads.
  - Androider 10y ago
    1) I think this is definitely the case, but with the broad group 90+% of the clicks turn out to be fraudulent in my experience. Unfortunately the advertising networks have little incentive to fix it, but the current state is ripe for disruption. 2) As an advertiser I'd like to define the demographics in very simple terms of white-listing on the platform. Twitter doesn't need to find out who are cloud developers: I'll tell the 2-3 twitter accounts the target audience must be following, which I know for a fact makes the followers also cloud developers. I don't need YouTube to figure out who are astronomers: I'll tell the channels astronomers subscribe to etc.
    - AznHisoka 10y ago

gregmac 10y ago

> flight offers for the business trip I recently googled. SAS software because I recently did a certification with them and visited their website. Amazon ads showing me business books I recently searched there. Really? My experience is much more: Hotels/flights to a place I went to weeks/months ago and am not planning on going to again. Ads asking me to sign up for a service I am signed up to. Amazon ads for something I just purchased (often the exact thing I purchased). From Amazon. For weeks.

geff82 10y ago
Absolutely true. It goes all directions.
piva00 10y ago
I really don't get this model of travel ads... I have the same experience, even with what I consider "good" travel sites like Hipmunk: I went to the US once in 2015 on vacations, to this day I still get the occasional spam e-mail telling me about good offers to this or that airport that I just used as a connecting point on my trip and I don't ever plan on going back.