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Word of mouth is a second order effect of advertising. Subscribed newsletters are advertising. Random recommendation algorithms on steam are advertising.

• Razengan 7y ago
  Then every mention of anything is advertising, differing only in degree of intrusion. But no, word of mouth being like if I found something on my own and mention it on Reddit or HN etc., then it's not advertisement in the commonly agreed-upon sense of the word.
  • deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  • Consultant32452 7y ago
    What does "finding something on your own" look like? Does it look like a product web page? Because that's advertising. Does it look like it was on the endcap of an aisle at a retailer? Because they paid for that placement. Let's just take a regular product like a smartphone. Assuming you have a smartphone. Let's imagine you ignored all branding or something and purchased the cheapest smartphone on Amazon... but how did you even know that smartphones existed in the world? How did you come to know that Amazon sells these smartphone things?
    • Razengan 7y ago
      > * Does it look like a product web page? Because that's advertising.* Oh boy. I guess your comments are advertisement about advertising too, then. This forceful insistence that someone is influenced by advertising even when they repeatedly say they aren't, just affirms the possibility that the ad industry is a sham and a con. Most people are numb to advertising, not influenced by it.