4 ms·

Too bad that "worth" doesn't come from anything. Oh no wait. User data. I can't wait for that to become an illegal trade.

freehunter 8y ago
You do realize that Instagram has ads that companies pay money for right? That's where they make their money, when companies purchase ads on Instagram.
- bilbo0s 8y ago
  I think TheRealPomex' point was that the companies pay money for those ads because facebook has the user data to ensure the ads are appropriately targeted.
  - mkirklions 8y ago
    I have never found facebook ads 'worth it'. Even with professional marketers, total joke and waste of money. People do not click on ads, and those that 'do', might be fake facebook bots or actually facebook messing with numbers. My new 'ad' is that I make content that people will search for on google. Then they can check out the rest of my website.
    - Rjevski 8y ago
      As much as I’d love to agree with you there are a lot of idiots out there that click on ads because they legitimately believe it’s a good product/service (hint: if they have to pay someone to shove their product in your face, it’s not a good one), or can’t tell the ads from real content (I guess that’s why “chumboxes” like Outbrain/Taboola are still a thing). I had first-hand evidence of this when my friend fell for some weight loss scam ad of Facebook. We ended up charging it back, and despite all that she’s still not convinced and will happily participate in loyalty schemes, give out personal information to anyone that asks (she literally gets one spam email every few minutes in her Yahoo mailbox) and prefers buying from unknown/shady/scammy sites like Groupon rather than more reputable outlets.
    - gadders 8y ago
      I joined a kickstarter that was advertised on Facebook.
    - soared 8y ago
      You're doing it wrong. Hire an agency who knows what they're doing. Your "ad" is just content marketing. This difference is you pay with your time (or others time) to create it, rather than paying for it to be put in front of other's eyes.
  - code_duck 8y ago
    Some of the ads I get on Instagram are completely ridiculous. I've been taking screenshots of them because they are so likely ineffective for the people who place them that it's almost humorous. For instance, an advertisement for a Chinese restaurant. I can't click on their name to go to their profile (that seems to be optional). Clicking on the action button asks if you want to dial their number immediately - remember at this point you don't even know what city they are in, haven't seen a menu. When I have checked out some of these restaurants they are often in other states.
optimuspaul 8y ago
> I can't wait for that to become an illegal trade. Why would that ever happen? How could that ever happen? That would destroy everything (note: hyperbole) of value currently offered for free on the internet.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  When users realize that data has intrinsic value and what companies have been doing with it and are incensed enough to do something about it?
- Rjevski 8y ago
  Everything of value can be paid for. The worth of an ad impression or click is measured in fractions of cents and the adds up to peanuts per month. Publishers can just charge those peanuts directly and I’ll be happy to pay up (plus they’ll get more without the dozens of middlemen in the advertising/cancer industry). But seems like publishers are greedy and want more than what the ads pay them, so that’s why subscription-based content sites don’t work at scale. For example, “Le Figaro” (a French newspaper) asks 9€/month for their subscription, despite making less that 1€/month from serving ads to me, so obviously I don’t subscribe and get by with blocking their (really shit, think Outbrain/Taboola “related content”) ads. On the other hand, I’ve recently started supporting creators on Patreon at the tune of 1$/video. It’s something I can afford to do for every creator I watch, and while being an insignificant amount by itself it would be a significant bag of money should every viewer pay (and definitely more than they can even dream of making from ads).
  - optimuspaul 8y ago
    But then you have to maintain dozens to thousands of micropayment relationships. I'm not willing to do that.
mkirklions 8y ago
To be fair, most of this user data is just bots like/follow/unfollowing. I like IG, but I dont feel like there are more than a few real people using it.
code_duck 8y ago
Instagram is the only effective choice for social networking and business promotion in a large social group I'm aware of - American alternative culture, both sexes, from 16 to 45. IG has also been adding features like stores.
xkjkls 8y ago
You do realize that they are booking billions in ad revenue, right? All that user attention is hella valuable space.

freehunter 8y ago

You do realize that Instagram has ads that companies pay money for right? That's where they make their money, when companies purchase ads on Instagram.

bilbo0s 8y ago
I think TheRealPomex' point was that the companies pay money for those ads because facebook has the user data to ensure the ads are appropriately targeted.
- mkirklions 8y ago
  I have never found facebook ads 'worth it'. Even with professional marketers, total joke and waste of money. People do not click on ads, and those that 'do', might be fake facebook bots or actually facebook messing with numbers. My new 'ad' is that I make content that people will search for on google. Then they can check out the rest of my website.
  - Rjevski 8y ago
    As much as I’d love to agree with you there are a lot of idiots out there that click on ads because they legitimately believe it’s a good product/service (hint: if they have to pay someone to shove their product in your face, it’s not a good one), or can’t tell the ads from real content (I guess that’s why “chumboxes” like Outbrain/Taboola are still a thing). I had first-hand evidence of this when my friend fell for some weight loss scam ad of Facebook. We ended up charging it back, and despite all that she’s still not convinced and will happily participate in loyalty schemes, give out personal information to anyone that asks (she literally gets one spam email every few minutes in her Yahoo mailbox) and prefers buying from unknown/shady/scammy sites like Groupon rather than more reputable outlets.
  - gadders 8y ago
    I joined a kickstarter that was advertised on Facebook.
  - soared 8y ago
    You're doing it wrong. Hire an agency who knows what they're doing. Your "ad" is just content marketing. This difference is you pay with your time (or others time) to create it, rather than paying for it to be put in front of other's eyes.
- code_duck 8y ago
  Some of the ads I get on Instagram are completely ridiculous. I've been taking screenshots of them because they are so likely ineffective for the people who place them that it's almost humorous. For instance, an advertisement for a Chinese restaurant. I can't click on their name to go to their profile (that seems to be optional). Clicking on the action button asks if you want to dial their number immediately - remember at this point you don't even know what city they are in, haven't seen a menu. When I have checked out some of these restaurants they are often in other states.

optimuspaul 8y ago

> I can't wait for that to become an illegal trade. Why would that ever happen? How could that ever happen? That would destroy everything (note: hyperbole) of value currently offered for free on the internet.

saagarjha 8y ago
When users realize that data has intrinsic value and what companies have been doing with it and are incensed enough to do something about it?
Rjevski 8y ago
Everything of value can be paid for. The worth of an ad impression or click is measured in fractions of cents and the adds up to peanuts per month. Publishers can just charge those peanuts directly and I’ll be happy to pay up (plus they’ll get more without the dozens of middlemen in the advertising/cancer industry). But seems like publishers are greedy and want more than what the ads pay them, so that’s why subscription-based content sites don’t work at scale. For example, “Le Figaro” (a French newspaper) asks 9€/month for their subscription, despite making less that 1€/month from serving ads to me, so obviously I don’t subscribe and get by with blocking their (really shit, think Outbrain/Taboola “related content”) ads. On the other hand, I’ve recently started supporting creators on Patreon at the tune of 1$/video. It’s something I can afford to do for every creator I watch, and while being an insignificant amount by itself it would be a significant bag of money should every viewer pay (and definitely more than they can even dream of making from ads).
- optimuspaul 8y ago
  But then you have to maintain dozens to thousands of micropayment relationships. I'm not willing to do that.

mkirklions 8y ago

To be fair, most of this user data is just bots like/follow/unfollowing. I like IG, but I dont feel like there are more than a few real people using it.

code_duck 8y ago

Instagram is the only effective choice for social networking and business promotion in a large social group I'm aware of - American alternative culture, both sexes, from 16 to 45. IG has also been adding features like stores.

xkjkls 8y ago

You do realize that they are booking billions in ad revenue, right? All that user attention is hella valuable space.