advertising is itself on ethically shakey ground since it so often crosses the line from providing information into outright manipulation. Targeted ads can be e

advertising is itself on ethically shakey ground since it so often crosses the line from providing information into outright manipulation. Targeted ads can be especially unethical when it involves the invasive tracking of individuals, the compilation, buying, and selling of dossiers, and it all taking place in an environment where much of that data is sold to the state directly or taken from companies by force and in secrecy (national security letters). Even if you could be 100% certain the ads being pushed on people against their wishes were not harmful to them directly, (and there is plenty of evidence that ads have caused great harm to people and their health) the entire system that enables and sustains targeted advertising is downright abusive and dangerous. Only the most narrow view of the issue could support the idea that it wasn't an ethical mine field and google's implementation specifically is full of problems.