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When most people think "ad", they think of injecting an attempt to sell you something into an environment where it would not naturally occur, pulling your atten

When most people think "ad", they think of injecting an attempt to sell you something into an environment where it would not naturally occur, pulling your attention away from what you were doing (commercials, billboards, web pages, magazines, command line tools, MOTDs, books - oh wait they don't do it there yet).

teawrecks 4y ago
This is a very old interpretation of the word. Today, "ad" almost always implies "targeted". I guess "what most people think" is a different question...a loaded one imo.
- denton-scratch 4y ago
  Come on, an ad is an ad. A targeted ad is an ad that's targeted.
- ThunderSizzle 4y ago
  The old interpretation hasn't changed and is still correct. However, traditional ads aren't nearly as violating as targeted ads, even if they are still annoying, unwanted, etc.
- nirimda 4y ago
  If you're watching TV and they interrupt the show to say "Consider subscribing to this streaming service, buying that brand of instant noodles, booking a flight to some holiday destination with a certain travel agent", surely that's still an ad break? and if you walk past a bus stop and you notice something inviting you to buy deodorant or vote for a certain candidate, it's still an ad? I've never seriously heard it claimed that "ads" are targeted or they're now something different: do you want to maintain your argument? What are these other things called nowadays?
im3w1l 4y ago
I have read books that after the end of the story had a page or two listing similar books. I would classify that as an ad, but I also consider it the kind of respectful and tasteful advertisement that benefits both the publisher and reader. Here's what I like about it: * it doesn't interrupt me when I'm in the middle of something, rather it comes at just the moment when I'm the most interested in purchasing a new book * it's just black normal font-size on white background, nothing screaming or annoying. * it's curated and decent quality recommendations rather than whoever-pays-the-most.
pxc 4y ago
> When most people think "ad", they think of injecting an attempt to sell you something into an environment where it would not naturally occur, pulling your attention away from what you were doing To me, the MOTD is like a bulletin board where I expect messages from distro maintainers about updates and the like, and it doesn't seem like a huge deal for it to include self-promotion. Injecting advertisements into the package manager, though, feels like a distinct level, even for self-promotion. And I am not a fan. :-\

teawrecks 4y ago

This is a very old interpretation of the word. Today, "ad" almost always implies "targeted". I guess "what most people think" is a different question...a loaded one imo.

denton-scratch 4y ago
Come on, an ad is an ad. A targeted ad is an ad that's targeted.
ThunderSizzle 4y ago
The old interpretation hasn't changed and is still correct. However, traditional ads aren't nearly as violating as targeted ads, even if they are still annoying, unwanted, etc.
nirimda 4y ago
If you're watching TV and they interrupt the show to say "Consider subscribing to this streaming service, buying that brand of instant noodles, booking a flight to some holiday destination with a certain travel agent", surely that's still an ad break? and if you walk past a bus stop and you notice something inviting you to buy deodorant or vote for a certain candidate, it's still an ad? I've never seriously heard it claimed that "ads" are targeted or they're now something different: do you want to maintain your argument? What are these other things called nowadays?

im3w1l 4y ago

I have read books that after the end of the story had a page or two listing similar books. I would classify that as an ad, but I also consider it the kind of respectful and tasteful advertisement that benefits both the publisher and reader. Here's what I like about it: * it doesn't interrupt me when I'm in the middle of something, rather it comes at just the moment when I'm the most interested in purchasing a new book * it's just black normal font-size on white background, nothing screaming or annoying. * it's curated and decent quality recommendations rather than whoever-pays-the-most.

pxc 4y ago

> When most people think "ad", they think of injecting an attempt to sell you something into an environment where it would not naturally occur, pulling your attention away from what you were doing To me, the MOTD is like a bulletin board where I expect messages from distro maintainers about updates and the like, and it doesn't seem like a huge deal for it to include self-promotion. Injecting advertisements into the package manager, though, feels like a distinct level, even for self-promotion. And I am not a fan. :-\