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Nobody wants ads banned. The problem is that ads are being placed into previously unused places and louder than before. The result is that all companies have to

Nobody wants ads banned. The problem is that ads are being placed into previously unused places and louder than before. The result is that all companies have to compete with these new obnoxious ads or risk falling behind their competitors that are willing to put ads in distasteful places. In my opinion, the solution is to clearly define a discrete set of spaces for ads and make sure everyone is able to compete on equal footing. It's not like these companies want to shell out more money for ads - they simply have to in order to compete. EDIT: Also the US needs to adopt Britain's ban on election ads outside of the election month. We waste a phenomenal amount of time and money on election ads that provide zero real benefit to the US.

munk-a 7y ago
> Nobody wants ads banned. I want ads banned. They provide nothing of value and exist only to sway people into buying your product - a lot of advertising isn't overtly malicious but it all exists dependent on an assumption that being told to buy a product is a more valuable use of a time than whatever else you're doing. I suspect that being constantly bombarded with advertising has ill health effects by making it harder to find peace of mind and de-stress yourself, but that's just a gut feeling.
- reificator 7y ago
  > > Nobody wants ads banned. > I want ads banned. > They provide nothing of value and exist only to sway people into buying your product - a lot of advertising isn't overtly malicious but it all exists dependent on an assumption that being told to buy a product is a more valuable use of a time than whatever else you're doing. I'm a prolific adblocker, but I disagree with you here. I think if things were kept at a reasonable balance, advertising would be a net positive. There have been several times where I've tried new restaurants because of ads. Sometimes I'll go searching to buy a specific thing, and realize that it doesn't yet exist in the market. Then a few months or years later, I'll see an advertisement for that thing, and I'm always very appreciative. That's not to mention that if ads were banned tomorrow, the established brands would have decades of advantage built up against newcomers, becoming a self-reinforcing monopoly that I'd imagine would last decades after the last person to have seen an ad dies. And don't forget, making something illegal doesn't mean it goes away. Look at how often people accuse accounts on social media of astroturfing. Do you think that astroturfing will become more or less common after a ban on advertising? At least with ads legal I can evaluate them as ads. I can't tell which glowing reviews are legitimate and which are planted, and if you think you can I'd put money against you. > I suspect that being constantly bombarded with advertising has ill health effects by making it harder to find peace of mind and de-stress yourself, but that's just a gut feeling. I definitely agree with you on that. The current state of ads is nothing less than an assault on people's cognitive abilities and mental health. Something needs to give here.
  - a1369209993 7y ago
    > Do you think that astroturfing will become more or less common after a ban on advertising. A ban on advertising means the company can no longer tell the employee that their job is to astroturf, or fire them for not astroturfing, because that would be a admission that the company was engaging in advertising.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
TeMPOraL 7y ago
I want the ads banned. For many reasons, which I've listed and described at length here: http://jacek.zlydach.pl/blog/2019-07-31-ads-as-cancer.html http://jacek.zlydach.pl/blog/2019-07-31-ads-as-cancer.html.
a1369209993 7y ago
> Nobody wants ads banned. I do. Yes all ads. Yes literally all. Yes, it's sometimes hard to tell whether something is a advertisement or not; it's also sometimes hard tell whether something is fraud or not, but I don't hear anyone claiming we shouldn't ban fraud.
KozmoNau7 7y ago
I have an anarchist streak and am generally wary of government/industry overreach, but even I would support a full ban on all advertising. In fact, I would go even further and enforce plain packaging and standardized reusable containers. We waste far too many resources on completely redundant products and specialized branded packaging.
anigbrowl 7y ago
Nobody wants ads banned. I do. I'm OK with magazine-type ads I suppose, since that's a format where advertisers can provide information to the consumer who may or may not choose to study it. If I am soliciting information about products or services through whatever medium, fair enough. Likewise I don't especially mind watching trailers when I go to the movies, since it's reasonable to think that I would be willing to consider spending money to watch other movies in the future. But most ads are about hijacking my attention, which I greatly resent.

munk-a 7y ago

> Nobody wants ads banned. I want ads banned. They provide nothing of value and exist only to sway people into buying your product - a lot of advertising isn't overtly malicious but it all exists dependent on an assumption that being told to buy a product is a more valuable use of a time than whatever else you're doing. I suspect that being constantly bombarded with advertising has ill health effects by making it harder to find peace of mind and de-stress yourself, but that's just a gut feeling.

reificator 7y ago
> > Nobody wants ads banned. > I want ads banned. > They provide nothing of value and exist only to sway people into buying your product - a lot of advertising isn't overtly malicious but it all exists dependent on an assumption that being told to buy a product is a more valuable use of a time than whatever else you're doing. I'm a prolific adblocker, but I disagree with you here. I think if things were kept at a reasonable balance, advertising would be a net positive. There have been several times where I've tried new restaurants because of ads. Sometimes I'll go searching to buy a specific thing, and realize that it doesn't yet exist in the market. Then a few months or years later, I'll see an advertisement for that thing, and I'm always very appreciative. That's not to mention that if ads were banned tomorrow, the established brands would have decades of advantage built up against newcomers, becoming a self-reinforcing monopoly that I'd imagine would last decades after the last person to have seen an ad dies. And don't forget, making something illegal doesn't mean it goes away. Look at how often people accuse accounts on social media of astroturfing. Do you think that astroturfing will become more or less common after a ban on advertising? At least with ads legal I can evaluate them as ads. I can't tell which glowing reviews are legitimate and which are planted, and if you think you can I'd put money against you. > I suspect that being constantly bombarded with advertising has ill health effects by making it harder to find peace of mind and de-stress yourself, but that's just a gut feeling. I definitely agree with you on that. The current state of ads is nothing less than an assault on people's cognitive abilities and mental health. Something needs to give here.
- a1369209993 7y ago
  > Do you think that astroturfing will become more or less common after a ban on advertising. A ban on advertising means the company can no longer tell the employee that their job is to astroturf, or fire them for not astroturfing, because that would be a admission that the company was engaging in advertising.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

TeMPOraL 7y ago

I want the ads banned. For many reasons, which I've listed and described at length here: http://jacek.zlydach.pl/blog/2019-07-31-ads-as-cancer.html http://jacek.zlydach.pl/blog/2019-07-31-ads-as-cancer.html.

a1369209993 7y ago

> Nobody wants ads banned. I do. Yes all ads. Yes literally all. Yes, it's sometimes hard to tell whether something is a advertisement or not; it's also sometimes hard tell whether something is fraud or not, but I don't hear anyone claiming we shouldn't ban fraud.

KozmoNau7 7y ago

I have an anarchist streak and am generally wary of government/industry overreach, but even I would support a full ban on all advertising. In fact, I would go even further and enforce plain packaging and standardized reusable containers. We waste far too many resources on completely redundant products and specialized branded packaging.

anigbrowl 7y ago

Nobody wants ads banned. I do. I'm OK with magazine-type ads I suppose, since that's a format where advertisers can provide information to the consumer who may or may not choose to study it. If I am soliciting information about products or services through whatever medium, fair enough. Likewise I don't especially mind watching trailers when I go to the movies, since it's reasonable to think that I would be willing to consider spending money to watch other movies in the future. But most ads are about hijacking my attention, which I greatly resent.