> Mainly because if Google's ad tech wasn't working, they wouldn't be making so much money.... Depends what you mean by "working". Like I said, companies alway

> Mainly because if Google's ad tech wasn't working, they wouldn't be making so much money.... Depends what you mean by "working". Like I said, companies always want to market their stuff. Online ads just need to be better value than print, TV, or radio - a low bar. Also, attention is a zero-sum game, if you don't target online you're missing out on a huge slice. An especially important slice of younger people. > I honestly think this is very, very user dependent. Of course. And as engineers, we're painfully aware how important attention/concentration is, and value that higher than most. I think content creators are similarly cognizant of that though. On podcasts, you're much more likely to hear "I don't watch TV". Sure, in the short term, nothing is going to change. My parents probably won't stop watching TV, although Netflix usability is pretty good, even for them. But in the long term? And it isn't like TV is cheap. In America, cable packages are expensive, although the big media conglomerates are pushing some shitty deals to get people to keep buying them. In Europe, it's often worse. Decent, country-focused TV is usually free. But if you want to watch Game of Thrones, you're basically going to have to pirate it. And even on shorter timescales, you can see changes. For example, I've followed some creators from Youtube to Twitch and find myself using it more, even if I'm not a fan of the UI or watching streams in particular. So it isn't even the same use-case, but the more time I spend on Twitch, the less time Youtube gets. Or podcasts. Youtube is still useful for discovery, but many people switch away from Youtube for consuming podcasts they follow. In any case, on average people are more aware of how valuable attention is - a trend I think is increasing.