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You're making a common mistake among tech people that ad optimisation is worthless. Ad optimization has reduced the cost of customer acquisition for millions o

by ig1 9y ago

You're making a common mistake among tech people that ad optimisation is worthless. Ad optimization has reduced the cost of customer acquisition for millions of businesses. In the bad old days you just had to buy a billboard or tv spot and hope for the best, acquiring customers was an order of magnitude more expensive than it is now. Many of the online services you use today (SaaS, online dating, mobile games, etc.) would have very different unit economics without ad optimization - a lot of them would be economically unviable. Ad optimization might be unglamorous but it has an important role in market based economies.

brador 9y ago
Ad optimisation has also pushed forward AI, machine learning, data science, data collection. All lead to a massive net positive for humanity (so long as they are not misused of course).
- Bakary 9y ago
  That last part has me a little worried, as I am under the impression that the economic actors who will most likely be able to make these techniques blossom to their fullest extent are unlikely to be even remotely interested in people's well being. Facebook is perhaps the best example of this hypothetical trend. I do hope it is confirmation bias on my end and that the reality is less grim than it appears.
Bakary 9y ago
That's a great point and it's making me regret the flippant tone of my post. However, I do wonder if there is a critical threshold beyond which the ad supported, data-driven market economy model will eventually metastasize into something altogether more menacing. Perhaps not as far as the traditional fictional representation of indentured workers with implanted brain-chips, but maybe a generalization of the Silicon Valley-type society: a small elite catered to by an army of individuals with precarious jobs (Uber drivers, etc.), with no other outlet other than to consume things occasionally and tap on a screen as a distraction. Essentially, the return of the old degree of inequality that's been historically prevalent and only recently pushed back a little, but this time tied together with technology. The semi-humorous concept of "late-stage capitalism" used to describe modern absurdity does look like an echo of things to come. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy all of the things you've listed and more. It's just the potential for human misery that can be unleashed by the misuse of this tech is certainly a thing to consider.

by ig1 9y ago

brador 9y ago

Ad optimisation has also pushed forward AI, machine learning, data science, data collection. All lead to a massive net positive for humanity (so long as they are not misused of course).

Bakary 9y ago
That last part has me a little worried, as I am under the impression that the economic actors who will most likely be able to make these techniques blossom to their fullest extent are unlikely to be even remotely interested in people's well being. Facebook is perhaps the best example of this hypothetical trend. I do hope it is confirmation bias on my end and that the reality is less grim than it appears.

Bakary 9y ago

That's a great point and it's making me regret the flippant tone of my post. However, I do wonder if there is a critical threshold beyond which the ad supported, data-driven market economy model will eventually metastasize into something altogether more menacing. Perhaps not as far as the traditional fictional representation of indentured workers with implanted brain-chips, but maybe a generalization of the Silicon Valley-type society: a small elite catered to by an army of individuals with precarious jobs (Uber drivers, etc.), with no other outlet other than to consume things occasionally and tap on a screen as a distraction. Essentially, the return of the old degree of inequality that's been historically prevalent and only recently pushed back a little, but this time tied together with technology. The semi-humorous concept of "late-stage capitalism" used to describe modern absurdity does look like an echo of things to come. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy all of the things you've listed and more. It's just the potential for human misery that can be unleashed by the misuse of this tech is certainly a thing to consider.