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Companies aren't paying just to show you ads. They are almost always paying for clicks on those ads that lead users to their website. That tracking allows the
by mrep 8y ago
Companies aren't paying just to show you ads. They are almost always paying for clicks on those ads that lead users to their website.
That tracking allows them to build more accurate models on what ads a user will click on and then tailor ads to the user causing increased ad click rates which results in more revenue.
And I'm not really concerned about the big companies. I'm concerned about all the news agencies that are barely scraping by with targeted advertising revenue. Remove the targeting and web journalism will get even worse as they have to layoff more people and resort to even more clickbaity news.
- codedokode 8y agoWithout tracking the ad won't disappear, just some kinds of it can become more expensive and less effective; that is not a big problem. Companies can still show relevant ads: Google can show ads matching current search query, Youtube can show ads relevant to the video, and so on. Regarding news sites, they have a lot of opportunities to earn money, for example, publish sponsored articles. They can also use subscription model. It is better than have mobile apps that scrap data from your phone, Google Maps that track every your step, and data brokers you never heard of but they have full information about you. We should not sacrifice our privacy only because someone out there cannot make the ends meet. Google won't shut down if you stop it from tracking users' location. People will still search the internet and buy smartphones.