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> But I don't think you [...] can make it go away altogether. If we can train neural networks to recognize things, then I don't see why those things can't be a

> But I don't think you [...] can make it go away altogether. If we can train neural networks to recognize things, then I don't see why those things can't be ads. Carl Sagan hypothesized a little about this in his 1985 novel Contact. Years before, he had invented a module that, when a television commercial appeared, automatically muted the sound. It wasn't at first a context-recognition device. Instead, it simply monitored the amplitude of the carrier wave... Before there could be any coordinated response from the television advertising industry, Adnix had become wildly popular. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Q6o51-W_z8MC&pg=PA226&dq=Adnix&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjFw7L0hMblAhWX8XMBHR64AaUQ6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=Adnix&f=false https://books.google.com.au/books?id=Q6o51-W_z8MC&pg=PA226&d...

robbrown451 7y ago
You sound like you are simply talking about ad blockers, which says to me you are missing the point. Not everyone will choose to use ad blockers. Also, if you do that effectively enough, you end up with people sneaking the ads into the content, as opposed to clear delineations between ads and content. Do you prefer that? Regardless, ads are here and a big part of the economy of the web. If I were Google, I would simply ignore the people who are so extreme that they can't see value in their attempts to reduce the annoyance factor of web advertising. Personally, I am ok with ads that do not significantly slow down the page, are very clear that they are ads, don't block content, and don't make me wait for content. I don't even mind if they have tracked me, although I'd prefer if I had some degree of control over that. On a web site I like, I am glad that the site owner gets a few pennies for my use of the site. I see a lot of ads -- often from Amazon -- for things like skateboard / roller skate parts, digital pianos, and "maker" things like Dremel tools. Sometimes I ignore them, but sometimes I look at them just like I would if I walked by that sort of thing in a retail environment: they catch my eye because they are things I like. Admittedly, sometimes I see ads for things like women's swimsuits or the like. Probably because, in a moment of weakness, I clicked on an ad to see a larger photo of a pretty woman in a swimsuit. I'd kind of like to be able to say "I'm not interested in this sort of ad," but then again, I really don't care that much. I suspect you can't wrap your head around my attitude, but that's what it is.

robbrown451 7y ago

You sound like you are simply talking about ad blockers, which says to me you are missing the point. Not everyone will choose to use ad blockers. Also, if you do that effectively enough, you end up with people sneaking the ads into the content, as opposed to clear delineations between ads and content. Do you prefer that? Regardless, ads are here and a big part of the economy of the web. If I were Google, I would simply ignore the people who are so extreme that they can't see value in their attempts to reduce the annoyance factor of web advertising. Personally, I am ok with ads that do not significantly slow down the page, are very clear that they are ads, don't block content, and don't make me wait for content. I don't even mind if they have tracked me, although I'd prefer if I had some degree of control over that. On a web site I like, I am glad that the site owner gets a few pennies for my use of the site. I see a lot of ads -- often from Amazon -- for things like skateboard / roller skate parts, digital pianos, and "maker" things like Dremel tools. Sometimes I ignore them, but sometimes I look at them just like I would if I walked by that sort of thing in a retail environment: they catch my eye because they are things I like. Admittedly, sometimes I see ads for things like women's swimsuits or the like. Probably because, in a moment of weakness, I clicked on an ad to see a larger photo of a pretty woman in a swimsuit. I'd kind of like to be able to say "I'm not interested in this sort of ad," but then again, I really don't care that much. I suspect you can't wrap your head around my attitude, but that's what it is.