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You don’t need product adverts for ‘ethical’ functions 1 and 2. Honest aggregators and reviewers which the buyer can seek out when they need something would ful

You don’t need product adverts for ‘ethical’ functions 1 and 2. Honest aggregators and reviewers which the buyer can seek out when they need something would fulfil that. I think that would also be much more convenient for the buyer (though obviously not for the seller, who wants to invent needs in people who otherwise wouldn’t think of buying anything).

jan_Inkepa 6y ago
I’ve had some experiences getting hungry while visiting unfamiliar city centres pre-smartphone and wishing there was more public advertising of restaurants. That is to say, there’s definitely some minimal amount of advertising that I apparently want in my life. If you don’t rely on advertising (speaking directly to possible customers) then you have to work with journalists other middle-men, whose tastes might not reflect those of your customers, or you have for a network to build, which might be too slow. Possible grateful future customers loose out here too.
- Jochim 6y ago
  In what way do the aggregators/reviewers not solve that issue for you though? If I see a place that has 100+ 5 stars on tripadvisor/yelp I'm much more likely to go than if I see an advertisement, because at that point I know a reasonable number of actual people have gone and liked the experience. I typically dismiss any claims an advert makes as total bullshit because adverts are lying to you the majority of the time. In the case of a restaurant it might work if you're advertising that you're newly opened, but otherwise I'm wondering why people aren't being pulled in when they look on sites like tripadvisor/yelp.
smsm42 6y ago
You don't "need" ads, as in there are other ways to do it, if there was some reason to never use ads. But there's no reason, so ads are used too, and are quite effective in that too. And it won't be convenient for a buyer that doesn't know certain offering exists. I.e. if I don't know such thing as wireless headphones existed, I couldn't effectively look it up and seek reviews for it - somebody should tell me first - dude, did you know you can get rid of those annoying wires and just buy wireless ones? Now, did I "need" them? Strictly speaking, no - I could very well have lived all my life with wired ones and be fine. But wireless are better for me, so why should I resent someone who tries to sell them to me? For me, it's a win-win.

jan_Inkepa 6y ago

I’ve had some experiences getting hungry while visiting unfamiliar city centres pre-smartphone and wishing there was more public advertising of restaurants. That is to say, there’s definitely some minimal amount of advertising that I apparently want in my life. If you don’t rely on advertising (speaking directly to possible customers) then you have to work with journalists other middle-men, whose tastes might not reflect those of your customers, or you have for a network to build, which might be too slow. Possible grateful future customers loose out here too.

Jochim 6y ago
In what way do the aggregators/reviewers not solve that issue for you though? If I see a place that has 100+ 5 stars on tripadvisor/yelp I'm much more likely to go than if I see an advertisement, because at that point I know a reasonable number of actual people have gone and liked the experience. I typically dismiss any claims an advert makes as total bullshit because adverts are lying to you the majority of the time. In the case of a restaurant it might work if you're advertising that you're newly opened, but otherwise I'm wondering why people aren't being pulled in when they look on sites like tripadvisor/yelp.

smsm42 6y ago

You don't "need" ads, as in there are other ways to do it, if there was some reason to never use ads. But there's no reason, so ads are used too, and are quite effective in that too. And it won't be convenient for a buyer that doesn't know certain offering exists. I.e. if I don't know such thing as wireless headphones existed, I couldn't effectively look it up and seek reviews for it - somebody should tell me first - dude, did you know you can get rid of those annoying wires and just buy wireless ones? Now, did I "need" them? Strictly speaking, no - I could very well have lived all my life with wired ones and be fine. But wireless are better for me, so why should I resent someone who tries to sell them to me? For me, it's a win-win.