I don't see how you could read what I wrote and take it to mean that it's not possible that anyone ever, anywhere, saw a poorly targetted ad on a web page somew

I don't see how you could read what I wrote and take it to mean that it's not possible that anyone ever, anywhere, saw a poorly targetted ad on a web page somewhere. In fact I see my point as sort of the converse: there's a deeply annoying undercurrent in HN discourse that seeks to use the word "advertising" as a shorthand for all sorts of ethical problems that are complicated and nuanced. When, no, advertising is doing what it always has. Internet advertising, broadly, is well-targetted. It just is. (For really obvious reasons! Of all the people who want ad targetting to work most, the advertisers and the ad brokers are at the top of the list!)