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To get information to those that are interested in it. While some dislike any kind of advertisment, many (me included) don't mind having ads, as long as they're

by dx034 7y ago

To get information to those that are interested in it. While some dislike any kind of advertisment, many (me included) don't mind having ads, as long as they're not too intrusive and actually useful.

jka 7y ago
There are other ways that users can fulfill their information needs which don't require targeted advertising. You mention you don't mind ads; would you also prefer to be subject to targeted advertising rather than to have software running on your own device which displays equally-relevant reference material without sharing your personal data?
dfxm12 7y ago
But, you can't have targeted ads without some database out there tracking everything you do. A database that is ostensibly used to get information to you that you might find interesting, but in reality has been used for much worse, according to the article: proliferation of hateful and false content on social media & political manipulation, among others. This data is also an valuable target for ID thieves. The ads themselves aren't the problem here, nor is it really what's being discussed.
- libertine 7y ago
  You had targeted advertising before the internet, it's simply less targeted and less granular, with more wastage. A quick example: if you wanted to reach health care works, or more precisely doctors, you'd advertising on magazines for health care professionals. Most of which were subscribed (name, birthday, profession, address, etc) - so you had already some data for some targeting. > in reality has been used for much worse, according to the article: proliferation of hateful and false content on social media & political manipulation, among others. This is where advertising is getting mixed with propaganda - those are very different things and the only cross section is that they are messages that use text, audio, images, video - in others words - they are distributed with audiovisual media. They have different legal obligations (depending on the country). What is lacking is regulation and fines for abuse of propaganda. The problem is that the sheer volume of content being produced is hard to regulate.
zepto 7y ago
“Interested” is Orwellian doublespeak. What advertisers care about is who is susceptible or vulnerable to persuasion.

by dx034 7y ago

To get information to those that are interested in it. While some dislike any kind of advertisment, many (me included) don't mind having ads, as long as they're not too intrusive and actually useful.

jka 7y ago

There are other ways that users can fulfill their information needs which don't require targeted advertising. You mention you don't mind ads; would you also prefer to be subject to targeted advertising rather than to have software running on your own device which displays equally-relevant reference material without sharing your personal data?

dfxm12 7y ago

But, you can't have targeted ads without some database out there tracking everything you do. A database that is ostensibly used to get information to you that you might find interesting, but in reality has been used for much worse, according to the article: proliferation of hateful and false content on social media & political manipulation, among others. This data is also an valuable target for ID thieves. The ads themselves aren't the problem here, nor is it really what's being discussed.

libertine 7y ago
You had targeted advertising before the internet, it's simply less targeted and less granular, with more wastage. A quick example: if you wanted to reach health care works, or more precisely doctors, you'd advertising on magazines for health care professionals. Most of which were subscribed (name, birthday, profession, address, etc) - so you had already some data for some targeting. > in reality has been used for much worse, according to the article: proliferation of hateful and false content on social media & political manipulation, among others. This is where advertising is getting mixed with propaganda - those are very different things and the only cross section is that they are messages that use text, audio, images, video - in others words - they are distributed with audiovisual media. They have different legal obligations (depending on the country). What is lacking is regulation and fines for abuse of propaganda. The problem is that the sheer volume of content being produced is hard to regulate.

zepto 7y ago

“Interested” is Orwellian doublespeak. What advertisers care about is who is susceptible or vulnerable to persuasion.