4 ms·

This makes sense to me. If you are targeting me, I have told you I like it, and therefore don't need you to tell me about it.

haste410 8y ago
Depends on how the targeting is done. You can be aware of a product but not looked into it or purchased it. In that case the targeting is trying to move you along to become a customer.
i_cant_speel 8y ago
I often get targeted ads for upcoming shows in my area. Just because you have identified that you like a subject does not necessarily mean you have spent all the money you are going to spend on that subject.
jarfil 8y ago
The worst kind of targeting is when I go to a website, browse some similar items comparing their features and price, buy one... and now you decide to show me ads about those same products for the next week even if it should be clear that I've already made up my mind (I'm looking at you, Amazon).
- wlesieutre 8y ago
  Customers who bought this television also bought: 1) different television 2) another television 3) alternate listing of the same television and 4x the price because it's controlled by some idiot algorithm 4) more television 5) yet another television Suuuuure they did
  - detaro 8y ago
    One possible explanation I've heard (of which I have no idea if it is true) for both this and ads showing after you've made a big purchase is that people actually are somewhat more likely to buy an appliance close to another purchase of one, since they only buy them a) after several years, if the previous one has broken or is outdated, or b) shortly after they bought another one, which they returned for some reason.
    - wlesieutre 8y ago
      Pretty sad state of affairs if that's the case, you'd think Amazon would do something to exclude repeat purchases after a return. But it's been this way for years. As it stands, 99% of their product recommendations are saying "I assume what we just sold you was a total piece of shit and you'll probably need another one after you return it. Here are some options!"
  - rusk 8y ago
    Can you not use fixed-width for block quotes please? It’s very difficult to read on smaller screens!
    - wlesieutre 8y ago
      I'd avoid it for anything important, but if you can read the first ten characters of each line I think you get the point of my list there. Didn't want to waste the space with paragraph breaks between items.
      - rusk 8y ago
        This is a matter of custom, fixed-width is for code [0] It is more typical to italicize a blockquote, perhaps with leading `>` to mark it out: > like this - and this is a list-item - and so is this it's just a matter of courtesy to those using smaller screens and assistive technologies Thanks! [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc
        wlesieutre 8y ago
        I agree in principle, but - I don't - think that - individual paragraphs - for a list - is a very good - use of space - on small screens - or on large ones Code blocks are crappy for small screens, but so are lists written as a series of paragraphs. Unfortunately, HN seems opposed to supporting non-paragraph linebreaks, lists, blockquotes, or any other sort of formatting. That's fine, it's up to dang and the other admins who run the place and they don't want to support other formatting, but it means that the code format gets abused as a poor approximation for these things. EDIT: I should also point out that your source says "fixed-width is intended for code." You left that word out and it's an important one. If it said "is only for code" the meaning would be different. Side note, reddit lets you do a line break by ending a line with two spaces before hitting enter. Just tested to double check, it doesn't work here. I wish it did, and replacing space-space-newline with <br> seems like a pretty trivial and unobjectionable feature, but here we are.
        8y ago
  - hnuser1234 8y ago
    There are different sections, "also bought" and "related". They both show up in the same formatting.
- Nursie 8y ago
  We notice you're interested in car insurance, how about some car insurance? Yeah, I was, you're right, I spent a couple of hours looking at car insurance stuff and now it's done for the year, so you're spending your advertising budget chasing people who are the absolute least likely to be interested...
baddox 8y ago
That sounds vastly oversimplified. So you’ve discovered that I’m into hiking/camping gear. That doesn’t mean I will never buy another piece of outdoor gear or that I have heard of every brand and product in that category.
- rusk 8y ago
  Yeah but crowding out my browsing experience with things I’ve already bought you’re losing the opportunity to sell me other stuff I mightn’t have even thought about!
- DoctorOetker 8y ago
  if you really are into hiking/camping gear, you probably know where to find it and at what kind of price, or perhaps you know you will actively search and compare when buying, so the ad is of little relevance.
  - baddox 8y ago
    I think advertisers would be overjoyed to hear your low estimate of your susceptibility to ads.

haste410 8y ago

Depends on how the targeting is done. You can be aware of a product but not looked into it or purchased it. In that case the targeting is trying to move you along to become a customer.

i_cant_speel 8y ago

I often get targeted ads for upcoming shows in my area. Just because you have identified that you like a subject does not necessarily mean you have spent all the money you are going to spend on that subject.

jarfil 8y ago

The worst kind of targeting is when I go to a website, browse some similar items comparing their features and price, buy one... and now you decide to show me ads about those same products for the next week even if it should be clear that I've already made up my mind (I'm looking at you, Amazon).

wlesieutre 8y ago
Customers who bought this television also bought: 1) different television 2) another television 3) alternate listing of the same television and 4x the price because it's controlled by some idiot algorithm 4) more television 5) yet another television Suuuuure they did
- detaro 8y ago
  One possible explanation I've heard (of which I have no idea if it is true) for both this and ads showing after you've made a big purchase is that people actually are somewhat more likely to buy an appliance close to another purchase of one, since they only buy them a) after several years, if the previous one has broken or is outdated, or b) shortly after they bought another one, which they returned for some reason.
  - wlesieutre 8y ago
    Pretty sad state of affairs if that's the case, you'd think Amazon would do something to exclude repeat purchases after a return. But it's been this way for years. As it stands, 99% of their product recommendations are saying "I assume what we just sold you was a total piece of shit and you'll probably need another one after you return it. Here are some options!"
- rusk 8y ago
  Can you not use fixed-width for block quotes please? It’s very difficult to read on smaller screens!
  - wlesieutre 8y ago
    I'd avoid it for anything important, but if you can read the first ten characters of each line I think you get the point of my list there. Didn't want to waste the space with paragraph breaks between items.
    - rusk 8y ago
      This is a matter of custom, fixed-width is for code [0] It is more typical to italicize a blockquote, perhaps with leading `>` to mark it out: > like this - and this is a list-item - and so is this it's just a matter of courtesy to those using smaller screens and assistive technologies Thanks! [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc https://news.ycombinator.com/formatdoc
      - wlesieutre 8y ago
        I agree in principle, but - I don't - think that - individual paragraphs - for a list - is a very good - use of space - on small screens - or on large ones Code blocks are crappy for small screens, but so are lists written as a series of paragraphs. Unfortunately, HN seems opposed to supporting non-paragraph linebreaks, lists, blockquotes, or any other sort of formatting. That's fine, it's up to dang and the other admins who run the place and they don't want to support other formatting, but it means that the code format gets abused as a poor approximation for these things. EDIT: I should also point out that your source says "fixed-width is intended for code." You left that word out and it's an important one. If it said "is only for code" the meaning would be different. Side note, reddit lets you do a line break by ending a line with two spaces before hitting enter. Just tested to double check, it doesn't work here. I wish it did, and replacing space-space-newline with <br> seems like a pretty trivial and unobjectionable feature, but here we are.
        8y ago
- hnuser1234 8y ago
  There are different sections, "also bought" and "related". They both show up in the same formatting.
Nursie 8y ago
We notice you're interested in car insurance, how about some car insurance? Yeah, I was, you're right, I spent a couple of hours looking at car insurance stuff and now it's done for the year, so you're spending your advertising budget chasing people who are the absolute least likely to be interested...

baddox 8y ago

That sounds vastly oversimplified. So you’ve discovered that I’m into hiking/camping gear. That doesn’t mean I will never buy another piece of outdoor gear or that I have heard of every brand and product in that category.

rusk 8y ago
Yeah but crowding out my browsing experience with things I’ve already bought you’re losing the opportunity to sell me other stuff I mightn’t have even thought about!
DoctorOetker 8y ago
if you really are into hiking/camping gear, you probably know where to find it and at what kind of price, or perhaps you know you will actively search and compare when buying, so the ad is of little relevance.
- baddox 8y ago
  I think advertisers would be overjoyed to hear your low estimate of your susceptibility to ads.