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I'll admit I like some aspects of the internet of 20 years ago more than today's. I don't like our current world of targeted ads, SEO, overlays, scripts, autopl

I'll admit I like some aspects of the internet of 20 years ago more than today's. I don't like our current world of targeted ads, SEO, overlays, scripts, autoplay videos, and a thousand trackers. But I don't think this makes me that different from today's average internet user - just different from today's average marketer. Indeed, noxious marketing-friendly/user-hostile devices existed in some form 20 years ago as well (intrusive banner ads, popups etc).

ehsankia 6y ago
Today's average user comes to the internet for Youtube, TikTok, Twitter, Twitch, and maybe more "useful" stuff like Maps, Translate, Docs, or information like news, recipes, guides, etc. None of this would be possible without ads. No one is going to pay for all that.
- Ronsenshi 6y ago
  Ads are fine, it's the all-encompassing privacy-stripping tracking that is done to squeeze every bit of money possible. All of the listed services will still be there, they just won't be making excess profits for their owners.
  - throwaway3699 6y ago
    They would be shut down due to economic inviability. Targeted advertising is what makes these companies profitable in the first place.
    - account42 6y ago
      Bullshit. Targeted advertising makes them more profitable.
  - ehsankia 6y ago
    > it's the all-encompassing privacy-stripping tracking Which is exactly what FLoC is a step towards fixing. It may not be as perfect as not having any targeted ads at all, but it's a much better than the current status quo As for targeted ads, I would argue that most advertising would be non-viable without it. Yes, something like Coca-Cola won't care, but your average small business owner who needs to target a specific niche will basically be unable to advertise it. Imagine I build an app specifically for people into biking, or into animal crossing, or into some other small niche that's less than 0.1% of the population. How do you propose I grow my audience without any sort of targeting at all?
    - somedude895 6y ago
      Targeting != Profiling. The cases you state can easily be marketed to using contextual targeting, e.g. displaying ads on biking websites or communities or individual pages that contain the keyword "Animal Crossing". All of that is already possible and doesn't require any data on the user.
- account42 6y ago
  > None of this would be possible without ads. No one is going to pay for all that. Recipes and guides would not be possible without ads??? YouTube, TikTok, Twitter is mostly user generated content. You really can't imagine a world were hosting for user-generated content is not funded with ads???

ehsankia 6y ago

Today's average user comes to the internet for Youtube, TikTok, Twitter, Twitch, and maybe more "useful" stuff like Maps, Translate, Docs, or information like news, recipes, guides, etc. None of this would be possible without ads. No one is going to pay for all that.

Ronsenshi 6y ago
Ads are fine, it's the all-encompassing privacy-stripping tracking that is done to squeeze every bit of money possible. All of the listed services will still be there, they just won't be making excess profits for their owners.
- throwaway3699 6y ago
  They would be shut down due to economic inviability. Targeted advertising is what makes these companies profitable in the first place.
  - account42 6y ago
    Bullshit. Targeted advertising makes them more profitable.
- ehsankia 6y ago
  > it's the all-encompassing privacy-stripping tracking Which is exactly what FLoC is a step towards fixing. It may not be as perfect as not having any targeted ads at all, but it's a much better than the current status quo As for targeted ads, I would argue that most advertising would be non-viable without it. Yes, something like Coca-Cola won't care, but your average small business owner who needs to target a specific niche will basically be unable to advertise it. Imagine I build an app specifically for people into biking, or into animal crossing, or into some other small niche that's less than 0.1% of the population. How do you propose I grow my audience without any sort of targeting at all?
  - somedude895 6y ago
    Targeting != Profiling. The cases you state can easily be marketed to using contextual targeting, e.g. displaying ads on biking websites or communities or individual pages that contain the keyword "Animal Crossing". All of that is already possible and doesn't require any data on the user.
account42 6y ago
> None of this would be possible without ads. No one is going to pay for all that. Recipes and guides would not be possible without ads??? YouTube, TikTok, Twitter is mostly user generated content. You really can't imagine a world were hosting for user-generated content is not funded with ads???