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I can't really think of a nicer way to say this: I don't care. I get the theory. I get that everyone wants everything for free, and many providers still need a

by soneil 8y ago

I can't really think of a nicer way to say this: I don't care. I get the theory. I get that everyone wants everything for free, and many providers still need a return. But we've let adtech run wild, and they've just got scummier and scummier. "When in hole, stop digging". adtech really need to start taking responsibility for their own actions. They've been at war with users for far too long, and still play victim when the user doesn't appreciate it.

rootusrootus 8y ago
One the one hand, I agree wholeheartedly. But then there is reality. You can make two equally nice services, and charge a nominal fee for one while making the other one free but with lots of offensive advertising and tracking ... and you could tell users the truth about all of it ... and still, the 'free' one would dominate and the paid one would go out of business. This is the world we live in.
_cs2017_ 8y ago
When your say "scummier", are you referring to Facebook ads that follow your recent activity online? Or something else? On another note, as you put it, everyone wants everything for free. Is it really your place to tell them they can't have it, by disrupting the flow of money that makes that free stuff possible?
- soneil 8y ago
  This is the industry that created the popup/pop-under, and abused it until it got to the point where every reasonable browser has integrated functionality to block & whitelist them. Now they're abusing mass data harvesting and profiling until it too gets to the point where every reasonable browser will integrate functionality to block & whitelist it. This is an industry that targets users as prey, and cries foul when we play hard to get. For me, most advertising lives on a scale. At one end we have advertising that seems mutually beneficial to all, like sponsorship of podcasts. At the other end of the scale, we have unsolicited bulk email, which I've never seen anyone try to defend. It feels like each generation of web advertising starts somewhere in the upper third of this scale, and then digs and digs to sink as low as it can, until some measure is brought in to make this generation ineffective. Then they go off, come back with a new model, and start digging all over again. Ultimately I do wish they'd come up with a model that isn't abusive of users, publishers and even their own advertisers; but at this point I'm inclined to believe this leopard can't change its spots, and will always sink as low as we allow it to.

by soneil 8y ago

rootusrootus 8y ago

One the one hand, I agree wholeheartedly. But then there is reality. You can make two equally nice services, and charge a nominal fee for one while making the other one free but with lots of offensive advertising and tracking ... and you could tell users the truth about all of it ... and still, the 'free' one would dominate and the paid one would go out of business. This is the world we live in.

_cs2017_ 8y ago

When your say "scummier", are you referring to Facebook ads that follow your recent activity online? Or something else? On another note, as you put it, everyone wants everything for free. Is it really your place to tell them they can't have it, by disrupting the flow of money that makes that free stuff possible?

soneil 8y ago
This is the industry that created the popup/pop-under, and abused it until it got to the point where every reasonable browser has integrated functionality to block & whitelist them. Now they're abusing mass data harvesting and profiling until it too gets to the point where every reasonable browser will integrate functionality to block & whitelist it. This is an industry that targets users as prey, and cries foul when we play hard to get. For me, most advertising lives on a scale. At one end we have advertising that seems mutually beneficial to all, like sponsorship of podcasts. At the other end of the scale, we have unsolicited bulk email, which I've never seen anyone try to defend. It feels like each generation of web advertising starts somewhere in the upper third of this scale, and then digs and digs to sink as low as it can, until some measure is brought in to make this generation ineffective. Then they go off, come back with a new model, and start digging all over again. Ultimately I do wish they'd come up with a model that isn't abusive of users, publishers and even their own advertisers; but at this point I'm inclined to believe this leopard can't change its spots, and will always sink as low as we allow it to.