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But also think of the human benefit gained from ads. Free search, free email, free news articles, free videos. Also consider how Hacker News survives. As soon

by Buge 9y ago

But also think of the human benefit gained from ads. Free search, free email, free news articles, free videos. Also consider how Hacker News survives. As soon as you start charging a fee, you eliminate huge swaths of the world population. Ads are an equalizing force.

drewmol 9y ago
I agree advertising certainly has a place and tradeoffs. It's seems more like a cost shifting, less direct, obfuscated payment terms model than 'free'. Certainly people being advertised to are paying for it because the ads are successful, just not a direct exchange of money for content/service but instead a payment of time/attention for psychological manipulation/impression which will result in a direct payment sometime in the future(if the advertising party is successful)
- Buge 9y ago
  Is the economy a zero-sum game? Just because some people are making money doesn't necessarily mean others are losing money. And even if it is a zero-sum game, it would be a form of wealth redistribution from rich consumers to poor consumers. No one wants to advertise to poor people, they only want to advertise to rich people. But making a product ad-supported makes it free for everyone. Rich people's eyeballs are used to subsidize poor people's content.
bittermang 9y ago
Human benefit? The trash bags full of money being thrown around the room, while we fight over the scraps? Or we can talk about the purposeful obfuscation of the industry. How you have no way of verifying clicks, or views, or anything. How Cost Per Click is just an arbitrary number you and unknown others compete against, all for the pursuit of fake traffic and the hope of winning the advertising lottery. It is more worth your time to play Three Card Monty on the street corner, because at least all parties agree that game is fixed. When the online advertising bubble pops, it's going to go off like a fucking bomb, and we'll all be lucky to survive it.
- Buge 9y ago
  Well scraps are better than nothing. Just because some people have $1000 doesn't mean that $5 isn't better than $0.

by Buge 9y ago

drewmol 9y ago

I agree advertising certainly has a place and tradeoffs. It's seems more like a cost shifting, less direct, obfuscated payment terms model than 'free'. Certainly people being advertised to are paying for it because the ads are successful, just not a direct exchange of money for content/service but instead a payment of time/attention for psychological manipulation/impression which will result in a direct payment sometime in the future(if the advertising party is successful)

Buge 9y ago
Is the economy a zero-sum game? Just because some people are making money doesn't necessarily mean others are losing money. And even if it is a zero-sum game, it would be a form of wealth redistribution from rich consumers to poor consumers. No one wants to advertise to poor people, they only want to advertise to rich people. But making a product ad-supported makes it free for everyone. Rich people's eyeballs are used to subsidize poor people's content.

bittermang 9y ago

Human benefit? The trash bags full of money being thrown around the room, while we fight over the scraps? Or we can talk about the purposeful obfuscation of the industry. How you have no way of verifying clicks, or views, or anything. How Cost Per Click is just an arbitrary number you and unknown others compete against, all for the pursuit of fake traffic and the hope of winning the advertising lottery. It is more worth your time to play Three Card Monty on the street corner, because at least all parties agree that game is fixed. When the online advertising bubble pops, it's going to go off like a fucking bomb, and we'll all be lucky to survive it.

Buge 9y ago
Well scraps are better than nothing. Just because some people have $1000 doesn't mean that $5 isn't better than $0.