4 ms·

If I put an ad in a newspaper, or a commercial on TV, and this ad results in a customer purchasing my product, they don't give me a 'unique ID' for the ad that

by Aaargh20318 6y ago

If I put an ad in a newspaper, or a commercial on TV, and this ad results in a customer purchasing my product, they don't give me a 'unique ID' for the ad that triggered their purchase. Hell, the ads aren't even targeted to a specific user, only to the audience of a paper or TV network. Yet, when I open a paper or turn on the TV, there are plenty of paid advertisements. Why would the web need to be any different ? Don't charge for clicks, just charge for showing the ad. Don't target ads based on personal data collected from users, target them based on the content of the page they're shown on. You know, just like TV and print ads have always done.

avree 6y ago
...because paper and TV advertising is dying, largely because it is horribly ineffective for the reasons you described.
- AlexandrB 6y ago
  And yet we're all buying diamonds and slathering on deodorant... [1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-advertisers-convinced-americans-they-smelled-bad-12552404/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-advertisers-convi...
alibarber 6y ago
Looks like Facebook agrees with you: "The social media giant rolled out full-page ads across popular publishing houses such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and more..." There seems to be a certain irony in this.
Spivak 6y ago
Ads that don't give the advertiser direct tracking usually give users a code or url specific to a campaign to track their effectiveness. This is an "if they could do more they would" situation.
dhosek 6y ago
There are simple low-tech ways to do this. Differing phone numbers for call-in orders, adding a meaningless suite or department to the address for mail-in orders. Even a slight variation on the URL for web contacts. None of this requires Facebook-style tracking.
rush340 6y ago
The cable company and newspaper would absolutely love to do that if it were possible on their technology. If you put an ad on TV, the cable company is wasting valuable time showing your ad to a ton of people who will never purchase your product (I wonder how many hours of my childhood was spent in front of things like diabetes ads, funeral home ads, depression medication ads). Same goes for newspapers. If they could somehow target ads based on who's watching, the ads would be massively more effective and they could charge a lot more for showing ads. By targeting ads and charging so much more for ad time, some companies can even afford to offer their services for free, which massively increases the audience, which brings in more money, which gives them the budget to build a bigger, better service, which increases their audience, which brings them more money, etc etc And that's how you end up with Facebook and Google. Obviously the problem is that this isn't transparent. Many people don't know why they get all of this complex technology for free. It's not explained when you sign up for a new account.
- Aaargh20318 6y ago
  > If they could somehow target ads based on who's watching, the ads would be massively more effective They already can, and do. They know what the audience of their shows is and schedule the ads accordingly. Don’t show ads for funeral homes during Saturday morning cartoons. Hell, this is how we got the whole concept of a soap opera: soap ads during shows targeted specifically at housewives. You advertise cars during car shows, tools during DIY shows, toys during cartoons, etc.

avree 6y ago

...because paper and TV advertising is dying, largely because it is horribly ineffective for the reasons you described.

AlexandrB 6y ago
And yet we're all buying diamonds and slathering on deodorant... [1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-advertisers-convinced-americans-they-smelled-bad-12552404/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-advertisers-convi...

alibarber 6y ago

Looks like Facebook agrees with you: "The social media giant rolled out full-page ads across popular publishing houses such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and more..." There seems to be a certain irony in this.

Spivak 6y ago

Ads that don't give the advertiser direct tracking usually give users a code or url specific to a campaign to track their effectiveness. This is an "if they could do more they would" situation.

dhosek 6y ago

There are simple low-tech ways to do this. Differing phone numbers for call-in orders, adding a meaningless suite or department to the address for mail-in orders. Even a slight variation on the URL for web contacts. None of this requires Facebook-style tracking.

rush340 6y ago

The cable company and newspaper would absolutely love to do that if it were possible on their technology. If you put an ad on TV, the cable company is wasting valuable time showing your ad to a ton of people who will never purchase your product (I wonder how many hours of my childhood was spent in front of things like diabetes ads, funeral home ads, depression medication ads). Same goes for newspapers. If they could somehow target ads based on who's watching, the ads would be massively more effective and they could charge a lot more for showing ads. By targeting ads and charging so much more for ad time, some companies can even afford to offer their services for free, which massively increases the audience, which brings in more money, which gives them the budget to build a bigger, better service, which increases their audience, which brings them more money, etc etc And that's how you end up with Facebook and Google. Obviously the problem is that this isn't transparent. Many people don't know why they get all of this complex technology for free. It's not explained when you sign up for a new account.

Aaargh20318 6y ago
> If they could somehow target ads based on who's watching, the ads would be massively more effective They already can, and do. They know what the audience of their shows is and schedule the ads accordingly. Don’t show ads for funeral homes during Saturday morning cartoons. Hell, this is how we got the whole concept of a soap opera: soap ads during shows targeted specifically at housewives. You advertise cars during car shows, tools during DIY shows, toys during cartoons, etc.