5 ms·

That's pretty standard for what I call the "scam economy" that is the US for the past 20 years. Watch any commercial.

TallGuyShort 9y ago
Lest anyone not take you seriously, I noticed this when I first immigrated to the US, and every time I've returned from a multi-week trip: the first time I see a TV again I'm just flabbergasted at how nasty the advertizing is. When you're not used to it, it just seems especially manipulative and very negative towards the competition compared to other the other countries I've spent time in (which primarily other countries heavily influenced by the UK).
- throwaway91111 9y ago
  It's pretty shocking even if you are used to it. I can't believe people pay for cable given how terrible of an experience it is.
  - EADGBE 9y ago
    Weird. It's always on when I click the button. I pay for cable to enjoy baseball games, primarily, as there is no other way to watch "in-market" otherwise. For certain demographics, it's just the most sense. I mean, TV is TV. If I spend a little bit more to never have to deal with buffering, or a laggy UI, it's worth it to me. I think a lot of non-cord-cutters would agree. Re: cord cutting; I've tried, I really have.
    - throwaway91111 9y ago
      I totally get the always on thing; especially for baseball. My point was more that ads are the driving force for me, and i am sure others, to abandon the platform; it feels a little like someone invading your home to yell at you if you're not used to it. But this applies to YouTube too; cable cutting is hardly a panacea to avoid intrusive ads.
      - TallGuyShort 9y ago
        Personally, ads are easy enough for me to skip with a DVR (so long as you don't mind a lag between the live event and you watching it happen - avoiding results on the Internet isn't always easy) - but I don't even get the always-on thing. I had outages just as often as I do with Internet (actually more so), and I've had events not broadcasted when advertized. NBC Sports has been especially bad with this and F1 coverage - they outbid a motorsport-specific channel to get exclusive access to more niche events, and then those events get bumped to the bottom of the priority list in any scheduling conflict. So if you are DVR'ing it, you better check on it at least daily with other sources of information otherwise you're out of luck several times a season. Which wouldn't even be so bad if the only way to get NBC Sports and the other channels they move it to wasn't buying a 200 channel package and tripling my bill. So I just withdrew entirely.
- kbart 9y ago
  "which primarily other countries heavily influenced by the UK" UK, which until recently, had to abide strict EU mandated consumer protection protection laws. You cannot make unsubstantial claims even in ads. Companies had been sued and fined heavily for that.
em3rgent0rdr 9y ago
Only the last 20 years? Only the US?
- kalleboo 9y ago
  Other countries often have much stronger advertising standards regulation and consumer protection laws. In the US the attitude seems to be more "will I get sued over this"? That said the FTC does seems to be on the case in this instance.
- PeterisP 9y ago
  The particular issue described above (raising "base" prices to show a larger discount) is common in USA but illegal and thus very rare pretty much everywhere else. I'm quite sure that amazon.de and amazon.co.uk didn't apply this practice. There's a rather common set of "truth in advertising" laws (e.g. to show a "x % off", the base price can't be made up ("recommended price") but you must have sold this item for certain amount of time for that old price already, the sale can't last for more than x months (in that case, that becomes the base price), etc, etc. USA has chosen not to adopt such laws.
  - lentil_soup 9y ago
    is this really the case in practice, though? Are there websites to measure it for amazon.co.uk/.de? Asking honestly as I always assume they get around those regulations in some way.
    - koyote 9y ago
      As noted above you can check with camelcamelcamel even on .de. or .uk links. Advertising and 'sales' are quite strict in the EU and consumer protection is very strong.

Lest anyone not take you seriously, I noticed this when I first immigrated to the US, and every time I've returned from a multi-week trip: the first time I see a TV again I'm just flabbergasted at how nasty the advertizing is. When you're not used to it, it just seems especially manipulative and very negative towards the competition compared to other the other countries I've spent time in (which primarily other countries heavily influenced by the UK).

throwaway91111 9y ago
It's pretty shocking even if you are used to it. I can't believe people pay for cable given how terrible of an experience it is.
- EADGBE 9y ago
  Weird. It's always on when I click the button. I pay for cable to enjoy baseball games, primarily, as there is no other way to watch "in-market" otherwise. For certain demographics, it's just the most sense. I mean, TV is TV. If I spend a little bit more to never have to deal with buffering, or a laggy UI, it's worth it to me. I think a lot of non-cord-cutters would agree. Re: cord cutting; I've tried, I really have.
  - throwaway91111 9y ago
    I totally get the always on thing; especially for baseball. My point was more that ads are the driving force for me, and i am sure others, to abandon the platform; it feels a little like someone invading your home to yell at you if you're not used to it. But this applies to YouTube too; cable cutting is hardly a panacea to avoid intrusive ads.
    - TallGuyShort 9y ago
      Personally, ads are easy enough for me to skip with a DVR (so long as you don't mind a lag between the live event and you watching it happen - avoiding results on the Internet isn't always easy) - but I don't even get the always-on thing. I had outages just as often as I do with Internet (actually more so), and I've had events not broadcasted when advertized. NBC Sports has been especially bad with this and F1 coverage - they outbid a motorsport-specific channel to get exclusive access to more niche events, and then those events get bumped to the bottom of the priority list in any scheduling conflict. So if you are DVR'ing it, you better check on it at least daily with other sources of information otherwise you're out of luck several times a season. Which wouldn't even be so bad if the only way to get NBC Sports and the other channels they move it to wasn't buying a 200 channel package and tripling my bill. So I just withdrew entirely.
kbart 9y ago
"which primarily other countries heavily influenced by the UK" UK, which until recently, had to abide strict EU mandated consumer protection protection laws. You cannot make unsubstantial claims even in ads. Companies had been sued and fined heavily for that.

em3rgent0rdr 9y ago

Only the last 20 years? Only the US?

kalleboo 9y ago
Other countries often have much stronger advertising standards regulation and consumer protection laws. In the US the attitude seems to be more "will I get sued over this"? That said the FTC does seems to be on the case in this instance.
PeterisP 9y ago
The particular issue described above (raising "base" prices to show a larger discount) is common in USA but illegal and thus very rare pretty much everywhere else. I'm quite sure that amazon.de and amazon.co.uk didn't apply this practice. There's a rather common set of "truth in advertising" laws (e.g. to show a "x % off", the base price can't be made up ("recommended price") but you must have sold this item for certain amount of time for that old price already, the sale can't last for more than x months (in that case, that becomes the base price), etc, etc. USA has chosen not to adopt such laws.
- lentil_soup 9y ago
  is this really the case in practice, though? Are there websites to measure it for amazon.co.uk/.de? Asking honestly as I always assume they get around those regulations in some way.
  - koyote 9y ago
    As noted above you can check with camelcamelcamel even on .de. or .uk links. Advertising and 'sales' are quite strict in the EU and consumer protection is very strong.