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.. I mean, they would not have jobs if they did not participate in it.
by rc_bhg 9y ago
.. I mean, they would not have jobs if they did not participate in it.
- nojvek 9y agoGoogle + FB, the worlds largest online advertising companies lose probably billions to ad blockers. I’m sure quite a number of people got nice bonuses and promos for bringing some of that revenue back.
- r00fus 9y agoLose? They have monopoly positions in their respective markets and we have little choice. While I personally avoid FB and use DDG, most folks can't or aren't allowed to (no extensions).
- stewbrew 9y agoThey don't lose billions because some people hide annoying stuff that makes their pages esesstially unusable and have no extra benefit because ... I personally don't think this kind of online marketing actually works. I cannot imagine someone actually buying something because of some meaningless text snippet, a stupid blinking image or a video clip.
- edanm 9y agoDo you really trust your personal opinion on this, versus literally an entire billion dollar industry which has an enormous incentive to get this right, and which thinks this as business DOES work?
- stewbrew 9y agoThe point is, they don't lose anything because of me hiding their ads. There are other ways for advertisers to sneak into my world, but this kind of online advertisement is not one of them.
- Pokepokalypse 9y agoSo very sorry (and depressed) to say, but there are some sound and scientifically based metrics that show that it does work. I know. You and I can't imagine it. Personally; I think that it can't possibly be bringing in as much money as they spend. But whatever.
- Sir_Cmpwn 9y agoI'm sure they do. This doesn't redeem the engineers working on it, in fact it damns them even further.
- freedomben 9y agoI tend to think there's enough legitimate work out there for data scientists (especially these days) without resorting to this.
- Buge 9y agoHow will search engines make money if not by ads? How will free webmail providers exist? Ad supported content provides a wealth of information for people who otherwise wouldn't have access to it.
- gaius 9y agoHow will search engines make money if not by ads? How will free webmail providers exist? How do other businesses do it? By providing goods and services the customer wants at a fair price. Radical I know, it’s only worked for like, thousands of years...
- Buge 9y agoYes. But locking everything behind a paywall will have significant negative effects for people who can't afford to get past the wall. Ads provide wealth redistribution. Resources are given to poor people subsidized by rich people.
- gaius 9y agoAds provide wealth redistribution. Resources are given to poor people subsidized by rich people. Don’t kid yourself. If the major platforms could exclude those who aren’t in their advertisers demographics they wouldn’t waste a single server on them.
- pmlnr 9y agoMaybe that's the source of the problem: "free", the assumption getting a service without paying somehow. I'm old enough to remember a service, which added a footer into your IE5 and showed ads constantly, and in exchange, you got paid, with actual money. (Pocket money level, of course; unfortunately I can't recall service names, this was pre-2000.) Getting a service for viewing ads - that is fine. Telling me it's free then showing me ads - that's just plain dishonestly and/or lying, so don't tell me not to block ads: I never agreed to them explicitly. And as for information access: Wikipedia, one of the most well known source of information, is running on donations - subscriptions, really. It is viable. Makes no money for investors though and serves and actual purpose, like a library.