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Actually, being involved in ad tech can get you involved in some really cool tech. It's an incredibly fast-paced industry, lots of parallels to HFT. And yes, e

Actually, being involved in ad tech can get you involved in some really cool tech. It's an incredibly fast-paced industry, lots of parallels to HFT. And yes, everyone in the industry knows that ads don't work, you have all the ad blockers, etc.

saagarjha 7y ago
Why work on something that you know doesn't work and makes the world worse?
- Baeocystin 7y ago
  Some people are absolutely OK with that. Some people, it bothers deeply. Same about weapons work, or other engineering tasks of various applicable moralities. We all have to make our choices. I know I've worked on things of minimal value, just because I needed to pay for life. I've switched to other things when able.
- lonelappde 7y ago
  There's nothing unfairly wrong with Google Ads. It's the trackers that are bad.
  - nicoburns 7y ago
    And who do you think makes the trackers?
FabHK 7y ago
> lots of parallels to HFT. Including the fact that it might make its practitioners rich, while creating nothing of social value.
- sudosysgen 7y ago
  In the case of ads, arguably negative social value.
  - jimmaswell 7y ago
    Connecting people to goods and services they may want or need in a targeted way that tries to make them more relevant seems positive if anything to me.
    - RockIslandLine 7y ago
      Great, So when do we start? I would love to see ads that are only relevant to my life instead of penis pills.
      - tonfa 7y ago
        I'm seeing lots of good ads for local business on instagram at the moment, e.g. local bars doing home delivery.
    - sudosysgen 7y ago
      Good thing we have search engines. If I want to find a good or service, I'll go look up reviews or the like. Ads only serve to sell me things that I don't need, in the vast majority of cases. I think it's fair to say that making people want more stuff is socially negative.
      - jimmaswell 7y ago
        > making people want more stuff is socially negative I don't really think so in the general case. Personally I've eaten a lot of food I found out about from ads and wouldn't have known I wanted otherwise, and I'm glad iit happened.
        sudosysgen 7y ago
        If you want to try new foods, that's cool, I do too. Read local food reviews. But if ads convince you to try 47 different restaurants and that otherwise you would have been perfectly happy to eat at home, then the ads did a disservice to society.

saagarjha 7y ago

Why work on something that you know doesn't work and makes the world worse?

Baeocystin 7y ago
Some people are absolutely OK with that. Some people, it bothers deeply. Same about weapons work, or other engineering tasks of various applicable moralities. We all have to make our choices. I know I've worked on things of minimal value, just because I needed to pay for life. I've switched to other things when able.
lonelappde 7y ago
There's nothing unfairly wrong with Google Ads. It's the trackers that are bad.
- nicoburns 7y ago
  And who do you think makes the trackers?

FabHK 7y ago

> lots of parallels to HFT. Including the fact that it might make its practitioners rich, while creating nothing of social value.

sudosysgen 7y ago
In the case of ads, arguably negative social value.
- jimmaswell 7y ago
  Connecting people to goods and services they may want or need in a targeted way that tries to make them more relevant seems positive if anything to me.
  - RockIslandLine 7y ago
    Great, So when do we start? I would love to see ads that are only relevant to my life instead of penis pills.
    - tonfa 7y ago
      I'm seeing lots of good ads for local business on instagram at the moment, e.g. local bars doing home delivery.
  - sudosysgen 7y ago
    Good thing we have search engines. If I want to find a good or service, I'll go look up reviews or the like. Ads only serve to sell me things that I don't need, in the vast majority of cases. I think it's fair to say that making people want more stuff is socially negative.
    - jimmaswell 7y ago
      > making people want more stuff is socially negative I don't really think so in the general case. Personally I've eaten a lot of food I found out about from ads and wouldn't have known I wanted otherwise, and I'm glad iit happened.
      - sudosysgen 7y ago
        If you want to try new foods, that's cool, I do too. Read local food reviews. But if ads convince you to try 47 different restaurants and that otherwise you would have been perfectly happy to eat at home, then the ads did a disservice to society.