4 ms·

I don't know, I dabbled in ecommerce and while it wasn't a roaring success, people definitely did click the ads and buy the product, and I made a tiny bit of mo

I don't know, I dabbled in ecommerce and while it wasn't a roaring success, people definitely did click the ads and buy the product, and I made a tiny bit of money. My guess is if someone actually knew a few more things than me they could make it work properly.

croes 5y ago
It's not about effectiveness of ads but if it's more effective as previous methods and are the huge data collections necessary for the effect.
- y4mi 5y ago
  I'm pretty sure that most previous methods have had their effectiveness significantly reduced by how our society works nowadays. Most non-IT workers still don't use an AdBlocker, so you're actually getting your ads in front of the majority of the population. If you did the same with TV or even worse magazine ads you'd reach only a tiny segment of people, as the quantity of people consuming this kind of content has been drastically reduced.
  - saimiam 5y ago
    While technically you’re right that most people don’t use as blockers, I was surprised to see that it’s as high as 42.7% that this link seems to claim - https://backlinko.com/ad-blockers-users https://backlinko.com/ad-blockers-users
    - y4mi 5y ago
      > 42.7% of internet users worldwide (16-64 years old) use ad blocking tools at least once a month. That statistic is incredibly misleading. The amount of page views without adblocks is much higher then the insinuated 58%, because they're counting everyone as "using AdBlock" if they've used any device with an AdBlocker installed at any time within a month And a lot use AdBlock Plus, which also sells your usage statistics and only blocks ads from corps that didn't pay them.
      - saimiam 5y ago
        Did you, by chance, mistake ad blocking for AdBlock - the browser extension? 42.7% of users globally use ad blockers while Adblock has 65 million users. Surely, 42.7% of users is > than 65 million. Also, I don’t understand why you compared page views to users. It’s probably very uncommon for a user to install an ad blocker but also choose to enable or disable it on specific page views.
        y4mi 5y ago
        no, i didn't. nor can i comprehend how you got that idea. we were talking about how many people see internet adverts. you then linked a statistic implying that 42.7% of people wouldn't be reached because they're using adblockers. this is false, because most of these people will still be reached, as they're only occasionally using adblockers
        saimiam 5y ago
        > occasionally using adblockers I don’t think this is a common way people use adblockers. Do you have any way to back this up? > nor can I comprehend In your first comment, you mentioned AdBlock, the extension, in the context of 42.7% users using ad blocking technology. To me, it read like you thought that the backlinko url was saying 42.7% of internet users use AdBlock specifically.
        y4mi 5y ago
        you only have one internet-capable device you use each month? i got a phone, two tablets, two laptops, a desktop and a TV. my phone uses Blockada and firefox with ublock origin, they both block some ads, but some still get through. one of the tablets is an ipad, which only has the buildin adblock. a lot of ads go through that. the other is a kindle paperwhite, thankfully without any ads. the laptops and desktop pc are all using chrome/firefox with ublock origin. most ads are blocked, but some go through just as with my phone. the TV has several devices connected to it: - xbox series x: unblockable ads - nintendo switch: unblockable ads - nvidia shield: unblockable ads. for a while i tried to use Pihole for DNS-level adblocking, but it didn't really decrease the amount of ads i saw per day, so i eventually gave up on that. so yes, i do everything i can to remove adverts from my life, and am nonetheless unable to remove them entirely. as such internet adverts will still influence me and few people invest as much time into blocking them as i do, which makes them generally more effective. the reason i pointed out AdBlock Plus specifically was because of how many people use it. most of these people still see ads, because that specific adblocker only blocks advertisements from advertisers which haven't paid eyeo (the corp behind that extension) money. https://adblockplus.org/en/about#monetization
- lordnacho 5y ago
  What previous methods do you mean? As for data, I guess I can't really see it all, it's inside Facebook. But spending money on the wrong target groups seems to not work, according to my experience. So it does seem like FB collects useful data for targeting ads.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  For a lot of small businesses starting out in digital advertising, the only previous method they had experience with was buying a website or Shopify store and waiting/hoping. We shouldn’t discount “this is a lot easier and actually reaches people” as being valueless.
- lazide 5y ago
  Having done this before? It is clearly, measurably more effective for most types of businesses (but not all). It’s easy to spend massive amounts of money on print and other ads with literally zero actual sales coming from it, and everyone you talk to on the print side knows it - but won’t tell you and will happily take your money. At least with online ads you can test, tune, get your own data, which while not perfect is miles and miles better than you’ll get from other types of ads.

croes 5y ago

It's not about effectiveness of ads but if it's more effective as previous methods and are the huge data collections necessary for the effect.

y4mi 5y ago
I'm pretty sure that most previous methods have had their effectiveness significantly reduced by how our society works nowadays. Most non-IT workers still don't use an AdBlocker, so you're actually getting your ads in front of the majority of the population. If you did the same with TV or even worse magazine ads you'd reach only a tiny segment of people, as the quantity of people consuming this kind of content has been drastically reduced.
- saimiam 5y ago
  While technically you’re right that most people don’t use as blockers, I was surprised to see that it’s as high as 42.7% that this link seems to claim - https://backlinko.com/ad-blockers-users https://backlinko.com/ad-blockers-users
  - y4mi 5y ago
    > 42.7% of internet users worldwide (16-64 years old) use ad blocking tools at least once a month. That statistic is incredibly misleading. The amount of page views without adblocks is much higher then the insinuated 58%, because they're counting everyone as "using AdBlock" if they've used any device with an AdBlocker installed at any time within a month And a lot use AdBlock Plus, which also sells your usage statistics and only blocks ads from corps that didn't pay them.
    - saimiam 5y ago
      Did you, by chance, mistake ad blocking for AdBlock - the browser extension? 42.7% of users globally use ad blockers while Adblock has 65 million users. Surely, 42.7% of users is > than 65 million. Also, I don’t understand why you compared page views to users. It’s probably very uncommon for a user to install an ad blocker but also choose to enable or disable it on specific page views.
      - y4mi 5y ago
        no, i didn't. nor can i comprehend how you got that idea. we were talking about how many people see internet adverts. you then linked a statistic implying that 42.7% of people wouldn't be reached because they're using adblockers. this is false, because most of these people will still be reached, as they're only occasionally using adblockers
        saimiam 5y ago
        > occasionally using adblockers I don’t think this is a common way people use adblockers. Do you have any way to back this up? > nor can I comprehend In your first comment, you mentioned AdBlock, the extension, in the context of 42.7% users using ad blocking technology. To me, it read like you thought that the backlinko url was saying 42.7% of internet users use AdBlock specifically.
        y4mi 5y ago
        you only have one internet-capable device you use each month? i got a phone, two tablets, two laptops, a desktop and a TV. my phone uses Blockada and firefox with ublock origin, they both block some ads, but some still get through. one of the tablets is an ipad, which only has the buildin adblock. a lot of ads go through that. the other is a kindle paperwhite, thankfully without any ads. the laptops and desktop pc are all using chrome/firefox with ublock origin. most ads are blocked, but some go through just as with my phone. the TV has several devices connected to it: - xbox series x: unblockable ads - nintendo switch: unblockable ads - nvidia shield: unblockable ads. for a while i tried to use Pihole for DNS-level adblocking, but it didn't really decrease the amount of ads i saw per day, so i eventually gave up on that. so yes, i do everything i can to remove adverts from my life, and am nonetheless unable to remove them entirely. as such internet adverts will still influence me and few people invest as much time into blocking them as i do, which makes them generally more effective. the reason i pointed out AdBlock Plus specifically was because of how many people use it. most of these people still see ads, because that specific adblocker only blocks advertisements from advertisers which haven't paid eyeo (the corp behind that extension) money. https://adblockplus.org/en/about#monetization
lordnacho 5y ago
What previous methods do you mean? As for data, I guess I can't really see it all, it's inside Facebook. But spending money on the wrong target groups seems to not work, according to my experience. So it does seem like FB collects useful data for targeting ads.
sokoloff 5y ago
For a lot of small businesses starting out in digital advertising, the only previous method they had experience with was buying a website or Shopify store and waiting/hoping. We shouldn’t discount “this is a lot easier and actually reaches people” as being valueless.
lazide 5y ago
Having done this before? It is clearly, measurably more effective for most types of businesses (but not all). It’s easy to spend massive amounts of money on print and other ads with literally zero actual sales coming from it, and everyone you talk to on the print side knows it - but won’t tell you and will happily take your money. At least with online ads you can test, tune, get your own data, which while not perfect is miles and miles better than you’ll get from other types of ads.