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> people that build websites want tracking. And it works. Retargeting works, banners work. do they? I've never once bought anything because and ad made me awa

> people that build websites want tracking. And it works. Retargeting works, banners work. do they? I've never once bought anything because and ad made me aware of it, or because an ad convinced me I needed it. not once. has anyone? I'm sure someone has, but how many? I would not be surprised if studies were done that computed a purchase rate overall for all the ads people see or hear in their lives, that the number is less than one purchase per billion ads exposed.

busymom0 6y ago
One thing to note is that the purpose of ads might not just be to get you to directly click on it and buy something. It might also be to make you remember the brand name so the next time you think of lets say baby diapers, you remember "Huggies" because they are the most advertised ones even though there are better and cheaper alternatives. As for how impactful the ads are - you don't need a study. Simply run an ad and you will know how many people click your ad and how many then follow up with purchasing. That's where terms like cost per acquisition (CPA), customer acquisition cost (CAC), cost per click (CPC), Cost Per Thousand (CPM) etc come into place. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cpm.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cpm.asp It's not one purchase per billion ads. You can look up google Adwords cost per acquisition by industry (WARNING - might be blocked by ad blocker): https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/29/google-adwords-industry-benchmarks https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/29/google-adwords... Cost per acquisition on the app stores is much cheaper too.
- zeusk 6y ago
  There’s a saying in finance, the more complex a financial product is, the more money banks make on it. I feel it quite aptly applies to advertisement industry as well. Massive amounts of complexity and red tape over getting people to buy things
- MzHN 6y ago
  Honestly wondering why this is getting downvoted, if it's not against the rules to wonder. I hate targeted ads as much as anyone, and I don't buy the ad tech bs that they are vital to human survival, but I think the GP is a bit naive to think that ads have no effect on them. There's long-standing research that people unconsciously prefer familiar things, so exposure to ads is enough even if you don't remember it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effect Of course if you would have never ever bought something, an ad is unlikely to make you change your mind. Same if you do thorough research on what to buy, you're probably not swayed by familiarity. But claiming that they have no effect is a bit naive. EDIT: I guess GP never claimed that they have no effect, but what I'm trying to say is that ads probably have a bigger effect in people in general, and even to you personally whoever is reading this, than you'd think. Targeted ads though? I hope we can live without them.
- naikrovek 6y ago
  > to make you remember the brand name [later, while not viewing any ad.] maybe, but that seems so untraceable that it wouldn't be worth the effort to even think about. but, ad people definitely think differently than I do, so who knows what they think about every day.
jlaurend 6y ago
Yes, retargeting and tracking is extremely effective. You've fallen into what I'm gonna call the "HN fallacy". - I would never click on an ad, therefore no one clicks on ads. - I don't have a need for a better file syncing UX, therefore no one would ever use Dropbox. - I don't see the point in crypto, therefore no one would ever use Coinbase. Specifically, let's say you've seen 100,000 ads in your lifetime and literally zero have had any impact on you, much less driven you to click through and purchase immediately. It's reasonable for you to question the utility of these ads. There are, however, entire populations of users whose behavior is vastly different from yours. They may be very willing to click through an ad to purchase. A good marketer will only target their ads at the people most likely to purchase (i.e. not you). This puts you on a negative feedback cycle where you only get ads from companies that are spray-and-praying or too unsophisticated to target their ads more specifically.
- feoren 6y ago
  I've been told this my entire life. People make statements like "everyone does X" and I say "really? I have literally never done X in my life and I know many people who say the exact same thing; in fact I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who does X" and the response is "yes, but you're different from everyone else. You and everyone you know are not like most people!" I find it extremely unconvincing.

busymom0 6y ago

One thing to note is that the purpose of ads might not just be to get you to directly click on it and buy something. It might also be to make you remember the brand name so the next time you think of lets say baby diapers, you remember "Huggies" because they are the most advertised ones even though there are better and cheaper alternatives. As for how impactful the ads are - you don't need a study. Simply run an ad and you will know how many people click your ad and how many then follow up with purchasing. That's where terms like cost per acquisition (CPA), customer acquisition cost (CAC), cost per click (CPC), Cost Per Thousand (CPM) etc come into place. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cpm.asp https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cpm.asp It's not one purchase per billion ads. You can look up google Adwords cost per acquisition by industry (WARNING - might be blocked by ad blocker): https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/29/google-adwords-industry-benchmarks https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2016/02/29/google-adwords... Cost per acquisition on the app stores is much cheaper too.

zeusk 6y ago
There’s a saying in finance, the more complex a financial product is, the more money banks make on it. I feel it quite aptly applies to advertisement industry as well. Massive amounts of complexity and red tape over getting people to buy things
MzHN 6y ago
Honestly wondering why this is getting downvoted, if it's not against the rules to wonder. I hate targeted ads as much as anyone, and I don't buy the ad tech bs that they are vital to human survival, but I think the GP is a bit naive to think that ads have no effect on them. There's long-standing research that people unconsciously prefer familiar things, so exposure to ads is enough even if you don't remember it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effect https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mere-exposure_effect Of course if you would have never ever bought something, an ad is unlikely to make you change your mind. Same if you do thorough research on what to buy, you're probably not swayed by familiarity. But claiming that they have no effect is a bit naive. EDIT: I guess GP never claimed that they have no effect, but what I'm trying to say is that ads probably have a bigger effect in people in general, and even to you personally whoever is reading this, than you'd think. Targeted ads though? I hope we can live without them.
naikrovek 6y ago
> to make you remember the brand name [later, while not viewing any ad.] maybe, but that seems so untraceable that it wouldn't be worth the effort to even think about. but, ad people definitely think differently than I do, so who knows what they think about every day.

jlaurend 6y ago

Yes, retargeting and tracking is extremely effective. You've fallen into what I'm gonna call the "HN fallacy". - I would never click on an ad, therefore no one clicks on ads. - I don't have a need for a better file syncing UX, therefore no one would ever use Dropbox. - I don't see the point in crypto, therefore no one would ever use Coinbase. Specifically, let's say you've seen 100,000 ads in your lifetime and literally zero have had any impact on you, much less driven you to click through and purchase immediately. It's reasonable for you to question the utility of these ads. There are, however, entire populations of users whose behavior is vastly different from yours. They may be very willing to click through an ad to purchase. A good marketer will only target their ads at the people most likely to purchase (i.e. not you). This puts you on a negative feedback cycle where you only get ads from companies that are spray-and-praying or too unsophisticated to target their ads more specifically.

feoren 6y ago
I've been told this my entire life. People make statements like "everyone does X" and I say "really? I have literally never done X in my life and I know many people who say the exact same thing; in fact I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who does X" and the response is "yes, but you're different from everyone else. You and everyone you know are not like most people!" I find it extremely unconvincing.