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Better or worse than Ad tech based companies? Most traders I've met have been fairly honest about contributing nothing to society, or that the world would prob

by posnet 6y ago

Better or worse than Ad tech based companies? Most traders I've met have been fairly honest about contributing nothing to society, or that the world would probably be a better place is large segments of the finance industry disappeared tomorrow. I can't say the same for the majority of developers from Facebook or Google I've met.

jariel 6y ago
??? I run ads and campaigns for my company and they are an absolutely essential form of communication. ... as almost everyone running and actual business knows. Yes - it can be very inefficient - but it's not inherently wasteful. You're making the wrong comparison - the 'Digital Ad Industry' could be compared to 'Digital Banking Industry' perhaps - i.e. useful overall but deficiencies exist. HFT is one of the ares in which there are no reasonable externalities. Better/faster tech for CDNs etc. can be developed without the HFT industry.
- secondcoming 6y ago
  What sort of targeting do you use for your campaigns, and how privacy-violating are those targetings?
  - jariel 6y ago
    If you have to ask the question I would encourage you to take $50, open a FB ad account, same for Google, and run some ads to drive some traffic to your blog or whatever. Running an ad campaign, or having to 'get the word out' for something possibly meaningful can be an enlightening and transformative experience for so many people who live adjacent to, but otherwise 'totally outside' the ostensibly opaque world of marketing. It's one of the most stupidly represented issues in pop culture, like 'reefer madness' memes form the 1960s' where 'smoking weed will make you gay!'. Well - just 'smoke weed' once and you realize it's frankly just not that big of a deal. Ads are ancient, normal, universal. The industry has serious efficiency problems, we're starting to face privacy issues (which are overstated but nevertheless legit), and I don't like some mediums (I for one, think we should dump most billboards) - but the nature of the industry is not wrong or evil, it's actually beneifical. 'Good ads' are a win for everyone. HFT is only a win for those directly involved and it's zero sum.
    - jimbob21 6y ago
      >but the nature of the industry is not wrong or evil, it's actually beneifical. Can you prove how? Thats what the previous poster was asking. >'Good ads' are a win for everyone. Again, how? I don't like ads. I think they're annoying. They're not good for me. I think you're drinking the koolaid.
    - secondcoming 6y ago
      Lol, I work in adtech.
- literallycancer 6y ago
  So uh, HFT is a zero-sum waste of intelligence, but paying for the privilege of shitting into people's brains to improve the chances that they waste money on garbage that they don't need is somehow positive-sum and good for society?
- lostcolony 6y ago
  Actual campaigns can be good, or bad, and aren't really being referenced here. The ad tech in question is the issue; the data collected, the platform itself. Think Facebook - in pursuit of creating a platform and getting data that allows for very specific targeting, they have created bubbles that magnify extremist messages.
- LunaSea 6y ago
  > they are an absolutely essential form of communication For your company, not for the World.

by posnet 6y ago

jariel 6y ago

??? I run ads and campaigns for my company and they are an absolutely essential form of communication. ... as almost everyone running and actual business knows. Yes - it can be very inefficient - but it's not inherently wasteful. You're making the wrong comparison - the 'Digital Ad Industry' could be compared to 'Digital Banking Industry' perhaps - i.e. useful overall but deficiencies exist. HFT is one of the ares in which there are no reasonable externalities. Better/faster tech for CDNs etc. can be developed without the HFT industry.

secondcoming 6y ago
What sort of targeting do you use for your campaigns, and how privacy-violating are those targetings?
- jariel 6y ago
  If you have to ask the question I would encourage you to take $50, open a FB ad account, same for Google, and run some ads to drive some traffic to your blog or whatever. Running an ad campaign, or having to 'get the word out' for something possibly meaningful can be an enlightening and transformative experience for so many people who live adjacent to, but otherwise 'totally outside' the ostensibly opaque world of marketing. It's one of the most stupidly represented issues in pop culture, like 'reefer madness' memes form the 1960s' where 'smoking weed will make you gay!'. Well - just 'smoke weed' once and you realize it's frankly just not that big of a deal. Ads are ancient, normal, universal. The industry has serious efficiency problems, we're starting to face privacy issues (which are overstated but nevertheless legit), and I don't like some mediums (I for one, think we should dump most billboards) - but the nature of the industry is not wrong or evil, it's actually beneifical. 'Good ads' are a win for everyone. HFT is only a win for those directly involved and it's zero sum.
  - jimbob21 6y ago
    >but the nature of the industry is not wrong or evil, it's actually beneifical. Can you prove how? Thats what the previous poster was asking. >'Good ads' are a win for everyone. Again, how? I don't like ads. I think they're annoying. They're not good for me. I think you're drinking the koolaid.
  - secondcoming 6y ago
    Lol, I work in adtech.
literallycancer 6y ago
So uh, HFT is a zero-sum waste of intelligence, but paying for the privilege of shitting into people's brains to improve the chances that they waste money on garbage that they don't need is somehow positive-sum and good for society?
lostcolony 6y ago
Actual campaigns can be good, or bad, and aren't really being referenced here. The ad tech in question is the issue; the data collected, the platform itself. Think Facebook - in pursuit of creating a platform and getting data that allows for very specific targeting, they have created bubbles that magnify extremist messages.
LunaSea 6y ago
> they are an absolutely essential form of communication For your company, not for the World.