4 ms·

This is a good point, and also kind of amazing. Advertising is so lucrative that there's no need to earn money from the kind of products that everyone else is p

This is a good point, and also kind of amazing. Advertising is so lucrative that there's no need to earn money from the kind of products that everyone else is paying to advertise.

Gunax 6y ago
Well, I suppose I was just a bit harsh. There definitely are opportunities outside of ads. But some industries are more cut-throat than others. The problem is of course not unique to software. Eg. it may be more lucrative for drug companies to research hair-loss or acne drugs than something like cholera.
- thaumasiotes 6y ago
  > Eg. it may be more lucrative for drug companies to research hair-loss or acne drugs than something like cholera. This doesn't seem especially unreasonable; hair loss and acne, to the extent they are problems, are unsolved problems. Nobody disputes that cholera is a problem, but it is very much a solved problem.
  - bleepblorp 6y ago
    Cholera is mostly a solved problem, but the point stands in relation to other diseases. There's much more interest from Pharma in hair-loss, acne, Viagra competitors, and in $1,000,000-per-treatment cancer drugs than in mundane but vital tasks like finding better treatments for mental illness, finding better treatments for migraine headaches, or finding new antibiotics before our entire current spectrum of antibiotics stops being effective.
    - disgruntledphd2 6y ago
      Pharma spend a lot of money on mental illness drugs, because rich people will pay for them, just like hair-loss and acne. I completely agree with you that this causes a misallocation of resources, but mental health is probably not the best example you could have chosen.
bleepblorp 6y ago
The supremacy of advertising is also a very small example of the much larger picture of the entire western economy degenerating from something that made actual stuff[0] into a zero-sum game that leeches economic value from productive purposes and transfers it to non-productive middlemen who do nothing other than enrich themselves. The other big example of this problem is the massive overgrowth of the FIRE sector, which has largely eaten the US economy whole while accomplishing nothing other than its own enrichment. [0] For the purposes of this argument, 'actual stuff' does apply to intangible goods, like software, that expands the production possibilities curve.
ALittleLight 6y ago
I've noticed while listening to podcasts that the most frequent ads I hear on ad supported podcasts are for other podcasts. It always makes me stop and think that the podcaster is paid by podcasters who want to attract my attention so other podcasters will pay them in the hopes of attracting an audience for their podcasts.
- ludocode 6y ago
  This is also true of mobile games. In-app advertising is so lucrative for popular games that it has mostly replaced microtransactions, and yet every ad is for some other mobile game. It makes the whole thing feel like some kind of pyramid scheme.
  - disgruntledphd2 6y ago
    Like, you must know this isn't true, right? I have worked in this industry on and off for almost a decade now, and in general, advertising is only used for users who will never pay. I mean, it makes sense right? You can get $5 for one IAP, and if you are incredibly lucky $5 CPM which is 1000 impressions. In-app advertising is a tiny, tiny percentage of revenue for most mobile gaming companies. That being said, everyone spends on it because the best way to find people who'll play mobile games is to target people who play mobile games.
    - jiofih 6y ago
      > at least 70% of the revenue in hyper-casual games is driven by ads
      - disgruntledphd2 6y ago
        That is an entirely different claim.
- shajznnckfke 6y ago
  Maybe what you’re encountering is cross-promotion on a network of podcasts? They want to sell ad spots, but they also want you to spend more time listening to their podcasts so they can sell more ad spots. Cross-promotion also exists in just about every other media format (books, TV, movies...).

This is a good point, and also kind of amazing. Advertising is so lucrative that there's no need to earn money from the kind of products that everyone else is paying to advertise.

Gunax 6y ago

Well, I suppose I was just a bit harsh. There definitely are opportunities outside of ads. But some industries are more cut-throat than others. The problem is of course not unique to software. Eg. it may be more lucrative for drug companies to research hair-loss or acne drugs than something like cholera.

thaumasiotes 6y ago
> Eg. it may be more lucrative for drug companies to research hair-loss or acne drugs than something like cholera. This doesn't seem especially unreasonable; hair loss and acne, to the extent they are problems, are unsolved problems. Nobody disputes that cholera is a problem, but it is very much a solved problem.
- bleepblorp 6y ago
  Cholera is mostly a solved problem, but the point stands in relation to other diseases. There's much more interest from Pharma in hair-loss, acne, Viagra competitors, and in $1,000,000-per-treatment cancer drugs than in mundane but vital tasks like finding better treatments for mental illness, finding better treatments for migraine headaches, or finding new antibiotics before our entire current spectrum of antibiotics stops being effective.
  - disgruntledphd2 6y ago
    Pharma spend a lot of money on mental illness drugs, because rich people will pay for them, just like hair-loss and acne. I completely agree with you that this causes a misallocation of resources, but mental health is probably not the best example you could have chosen.

bleepblorp 6y ago

The supremacy of advertising is also a very small example of the much larger picture of the entire western economy degenerating from something that made actual stuff[0] into a zero-sum game that leeches economic value from productive purposes and transfers it to non-productive middlemen who do nothing other than enrich themselves. The other big example of this problem is the massive overgrowth of the FIRE sector, which has largely eaten the US economy whole while accomplishing nothing other than its own enrichment. [0] For the purposes of this argument, 'actual stuff' does apply to intangible goods, like software, that expands the production possibilities curve.

ALittleLight 6y ago

I've noticed while listening to podcasts that the most frequent ads I hear on ad supported podcasts are for other podcasts. It always makes me stop and think that the podcaster is paid by podcasters who want to attract my attention so other podcasters will pay them in the hopes of attracting an audience for their podcasts.

ludocode 6y ago
This is also true of mobile games. In-app advertising is so lucrative for popular games that it has mostly replaced microtransactions, and yet every ad is for some other mobile game. It makes the whole thing feel like some kind of pyramid scheme.
- disgruntledphd2 6y ago
  Like, you must know this isn't true, right? I have worked in this industry on and off for almost a decade now, and in general, advertising is only used for users who will never pay. I mean, it makes sense right? You can get $5 for one IAP, and if you are incredibly lucky $5 CPM which is 1000 impressions. In-app advertising is a tiny, tiny percentage of revenue for most mobile gaming companies. That being said, everyone spends on it because the best way to find people who'll play mobile games is to target people who play mobile games.
  - jiofih 6y ago
    > at least 70% of the revenue in hyper-casual games is driven by ads
    - disgruntledphd2 6y ago
      That is an entirely different claim.
shajznnckfke 6y ago
Maybe what you’re encountering is cross-promotion on a network of podcasts? They want to sell ad spots, but they also want you to spend more time listening to their podcasts so they can sell more ad spots. Cross-promotion also exists in just about every other media format (books, TV, movies...).