On its surface, I don't mind basic ad targeting. You're right, I'm a 38-year old male with two small daughters. I'd rather see ads for things that market toward

On its surface, I don't mind basic ad targeting. You're right, I'm a 38-year old male with two small daughters. I'd rather see ads for things that market towards 38 year old men and 3 year old girls over random ads for products marketed towards other demographics. Privacy concerns aside (only because other people here will articulate them better), one of my big issues with targeted advertising is that it sucks at its job. I don't see ads for things I want. I see ads for things I researched once and then decided against. I see ads for things I purchased a month ago. Targeted ads as described above almost sounds like a service for me: here's some curated things you might be interested in. But that's not what targeted ads actually do, and consumers are not meant to benefit from them.