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I think a lot of this was already obvious to slightly-savvy mobile app users. Look at pretty much any free-with-ads app; a majority of the ads are going to be a

I think a lot of this was already obvious to slightly-savvy mobile app users. Look at pretty much any free-with-ads app; a majority of the ads are going to be ads for other free-with-ads apps, many of which you already have installed. The thing is, outside of the Internet most ad spend is for marketing ubiquity, not direct response. You don't really buy, say, TV advertising with the expectation of getting so many clicks or calls out of it. And, up until a few years ago, TV was the lion's share of ad spend. So who knows if we'll see an actual industry reckoning or not. The whole point of advertising is to waste money, after all, and plenty of brands were fine with getting nothing but exposure out of it. More interesting to me is the fact that tech companies are finding it surprisingly difficult to control where their ad-spend goes. I suppose this is an inverse of the problems with supply chains, where Apple can take three years to get a connector vendor out of their supply chain even when they were using literal child/slave labor. It's a market for lemons; bad "money" (publishers, suppliers) drives out good. The question is: will questionable ad publishing actually harm corporate reputation to the point where big ad spenders go away, or will we just see periodic Adpocalpse-style waves of spending being decreased and then brought back?

qeternity 6y ago
I suppose this is true in the same sense that the purpose of life is to waste oxygen.
- perfmode 6y ago
  this confirms the previous post if you subscribe to the idea that the purpose of advertising is to waste oxygen
  - notthegov 6y ago
    I agree, an advertising free world is the future. Also this is the former CIA employee who started a techno religion. He works with Dr. Garry Nolan at Stanford. https://youtu.be/rvovZBT54Oo https://youtu.be/rvovZBT54Oo
cortesoft 6y ago
The point of traditional advertising IS pretty much to waste money, similar to how the point of a peacock's tail feathers are to waste resources... it is a signal to potential partners (business or romantic) that they are so capable they can waste resources. It is a signal of bonafides.
- jackson1442 6y ago
  I'm not entirely sure about that, at least not in all cases. I was recently in the market for a new mattress, so went to a mattress store and tried some out. Even though Tempur Pedic is all the rage with their insane ad spending, I was not all that impressed, and found a considerably cheaper mattress that felt much higher quality. Now, this may all be sales mumbo-jumbo, but the sales rep noted that a lot of people come there only interested in Tempur Pedic mattresses, which he regards as "literally a piece of foam, total crap mattresses." They sell at such a high price point because they advertise so much, while the mattress I found came from a no-name brand that doesn't advertise at all, and was therefore cheaper. So I guess in some markets, advertising does work. I've never heard of someone telling me how much they loved a mattress unless it's a Sleep Number or a Tempur Pedic, and those advertise by far the most.
  - datagram 6y ago
    I guess that's the thing; for a lot of industries, people aren't generally going to make a purchase without doing some amount of research. Maybe Tempur-Pedic was on their mind when they entered the store, but once they're in the store they're generally going to end up trying out several mattresses. I /love/ my mattress (and have said as much to friends), but I honestly couldn't tell you the brand off the top of my head; I just went to a store and picked whatever felt the best. One could argue that Tempur-Pedic has to sell at a higher price point to make up for the money they spend on advertising.
- unethical_ban 6y ago
  I'm genuinely shocked at how many people think advertising doesn't work. Just because it doesn't make a person consciously stand up and say, "I want a Snickers" does not mean the ad didn't work. Like, honestly, are there people here suggesting viral ads don't work? Or don't understand the point of Coke or Mercedes Benz ads are for? Coke establishes themselves as the defacto soda. There is no other soda, or if they are, wish they were coke. MB ads among other things reinforce to MB owners the wisdom and luxury of their brand. To own an MB is to be part of a club, one that is advertised across the media spectrum. If MB didn't advertise at all, they would either become another commodity brand, or have to be so luxury that only word of mouth is necessary (Bently, etc). Now, maybe that's what cortesoft is saying "get you to waste money" but if it got you to waste money on their product, it worked.

qeternity 6y ago

I suppose this is true in the same sense that the purpose of life is to waste oxygen.

perfmode 6y ago
this confirms the previous post if you subscribe to the idea that the purpose of advertising is to waste oxygen
- notthegov 6y ago
  I agree, an advertising free world is the future. Also this is the former CIA employee who started a techno religion. He works with Dr. Garry Nolan at Stanford. https://youtu.be/rvovZBT54Oo https://youtu.be/rvovZBT54Oo

cortesoft 6y ago

The point of traditional advertising IS pretty much to waste money, similar to how the point of a peacock's tail feathers are to waste resources... it is a signal to potential partners (business or romantic) that they are so capable they can waste resources. It is a signal of bonafides.

jackson1442 6y ago
I'm not entirely sure about that, at least not in all cases. I was recently in the market for a new mattress, so went to a mattress store and tried some out. Even though Tempur Pedic is all the rage with their insane ad spending, I was not all that impressed, and found a considerably cheaper mattress that felt much higher quality. Now, this may all be sales mumbo-jumbo, but the sales rep noted that a lot of people come there only interested in Tempur Pedic mattresses, which he regards as "literally a piece of foam, total crap mattresses." They sell at such a high price point because they advertise so much, while the mattress I found came from a no-name brand that doesn't advertise at all, and was therefore cheaper. So I guess in some markets, advertising does work. I've never heard of someone telling me how much they loved a mattress unless it's a Sleep Number or a Tempur Pedic, and those advertise by far the most.
- datagram 6y ago
  I guess that's the thing; for a lot of industries, people aren't generally going to make a purchase without doing some amount of research. Maybe Tempur-Pedic was on their mind when they entered the store, but once they're in the store they're generally going to end up trying out several mattresses. I /love/ my mattress (and have said as much to friends), but I honestly couldn't tell you the brand off the top of my head; I just went to a store and picked whatever felt the best. One could argue that Tempur-Pedic has to sell at a higher price point to make up for the money they spend on advertising.
unethical_ban 6y ago
I'm genuinely shocked at how many people think advertising doesn't work. Just because it doesn't make a person consciously stand up and say, "I want a Snickers" does not mean the ad didn't work. Like, honestly, are there people here suggesting viral ads don't work? Or don't understand the point of Coke or Mercedes Benz ads are for? Coke establishes themselves as the defacto soda. There is no other soda, or if they are, wish they were coke. MB ads among other things reinforce to MB owners the wisdom and luxury of their brand. To own an MB is to be part of a club, one that is advertised across the media spectrum. If MB didn't advertise at all, they would either become another commodity brand, or have to be so luxury that only word of mouth is necessary (Bently, etc). Now, maybe that's what cortesoft is saying "get you to waste money" but if it got you to waste money on their product, it worked.