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Why is all advertising immoral? Markets with limited information flow become inefficient. Advertisement just speeds up the flow of information? For example, if

Why is all advertising immoral? Markets with limited information flow become inefficient. Advertisement just speeds up the flow of information? For example, if I created a service to file taxes for free [0], what's wrong if I advertise it so that more people can gain from it? Most people don't even know that CalFile exists, for example. [0] https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/calFile/index.asp https://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/calFile/index.asp

majewsky 8y ago
The internet was heralded as enabling practically unbounded information flow. In my opinion, this removes the need for ads as information channel. If you have a service to file taxes for free, and it really is good, shouldn't it spread by mere word-of-mouth? Wikipedia never ran any ads, for instance.
- tylerhou 8y ago
  Why does Google exist if there is practically unbounded information flow? Oh right, because there is 1) so much information that we can't process it all and 2) sometimes information just doesn't spread. If I host a website but nobody links to it, does the information on my website ever get spread? > If you have a service to file taxes for free, and it really is good, shouldn't it spread by mere word-of-mouth? In an ideal world, yes. But my point was that a service for filing CA state taxes for free already exists, but most people still don't know about it because it's never advertised.
mirimir 8y ago
Ads are not information. They're lies. Or at least, lies by omission. What I want are unbiased reviews. I'd even be willing to pay for them.
- tylerhou 8y ago
  Let me get this straight: you want to solve the problem of information which "lies by omission"... by omitting more of it by law? Imagine I provide some good or service that is extremely valuable to people, but there is a law preventing me from telling those people. Now those people cannot receive my goods or services. Is that not also "lying" by omission? Advertisements can be misleading, yes, and there should be regulations to prevent misleading advertisements.
  - chongli 8y ago
    I'm not the GP but I'd like to add my two cents. A great deal of advertising is about attaching desirable lifestyles to a particular brand and paying attractive celebrities to endorse the brand. None of this is information. It's psychological manipulation targeted at the natural human inclination towards group affiliation and status seeking. I consider it unethical for the same sorts of reasons that I consider microtransaction mobile games and gambling unethical. Unfortunately, this entire set of practices seems to be eating the world. [1] [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
    - mirimir 8y ago
      Yes, that was one of my points. Advertising often leads people to make poor choices. Choices that are poor for themselves, poor for society, and poor for the global ecosystem. So for example, advertising influenced me to start smoking tobacco. And them I was hooked, off and on for 20 years. Finally off, I'm glad to say. Maybe closer to home for many here, some years ago I was shopping for a server. But well over half of online reviews were pretty clearly advertorials for one brand or another. It was very difficult to find objective comparisons. Or VPN services. Virtually all VPN review sites are pay-for-placement. That's obvious if you look at their history in archive.org snapshots.
  - mirimir 8y ago
    I didn't say anything about making advertising illegal. But I would expect that all advertising -- including advertorials, compensated "reviews" and product placement -- should be clearly disclosed. As in "this is an advertisement.", prominently displayed.

majewsky 8y ago

The internet was heralded as enabling practically unbounded information flow. In my opinion, this removes the need for ads as information channel. If you have a service to file taxes for free, and it really is good, shouldn't it spread by mere word-of-mouth? Wikipedia never ran any ads, for instance.

tylerhou 8y ago
Why does Google exist if there is practically unbounded information flow? Oh right, because there is 1) so much information that we can't process it all and 2) sometimes information just doesn't spread. If I host a website but nobody links to it, does the information on my website ever get spread? > If you have a service to file taxes for free, and it really is good, shouldn't it spread by mere word-of-mouth? In an ideal world, yes. But my point was that a service for filing CA state taxes for free already exists, but most people still don't know about it because it's never advertised.

mirimir 8y ago

Ads are not information. They're lies. Or at least, lies by omission. What I want are unbiased reviews. I'd even be willing to pay for them.

tylerhou 8y ago
Let me get this straight: you want to solve the problem of information which "lies by omission"... by omitting more of it by law? Imagine I provide some good or service that is extremely valuable to people, but there is a law preventing me from telling those people. Now those people cannot receive my goods or services. Is that not also "lying" by omission? Advertisements can be misleading, yes, and there should be regulations to prevent misleading advertisements.
- chongli 8y ago
  I'm not the GP but I'd like to add my two cents. A great deal of advertising is about attaching desirable lifestyles to a particular brand and paying attractive celebrities to endorse the brand. None of this is information. It's psychological manipulation targeted at the natural human inclination towards group affiliation and status seeking. I consider it unethical for the same sorts of reasons that I consider microtransaction mobile games and gambling unethical. Unfortunately, this entire set of practices seems to be eating the world. [1] [1] http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html http://www.paulgraham.com/addiction.html
  - mirimir 8y ago
    Yes, that was one of my points. Advertising often leads people to make poor choices. Choices that are poor for themselves, poor for society, and poor for the global ecosystem. So for example, advertising influenced me to start smoking tobacco. And them I was hooked, off and on for 20 years. Finally off, I'm glad to say. Maybe closer to home for many here, some years ago I was shopping for a server. But well over half of online reviews were pretty clearly advertorials for one brand or another. It was very difficult to find objective comparisons. Or VPN services. Virtually all VPN review sites are pay-for-placement. That's obvious if you look at their history in archive.org snapshots.
- mirimir 8y ago
  I didn't say anything about making advertising illegal. But I would expect that all advertising -- including advertorials, compensated "reviews" and product placement -- should be clearly disclosed. As in "this is an advertisement.", prominently displayed.