3 ms·

Not me. I want ads to be hyper-personalized, because I want them to be relevant. I don't mind ads at all, *so long as they are for things I might actually be in

Not me. I want ads to be hyper-personalized, because I want them to be relevant. I don't mind ads at all, *so long as they are for things I might actually be interested in*. What drives me nuts though, are ads that are so totally and obviously un-suited for me. Like, I see ads all the time on Facebook where if I click the "Why did I see this ad" button, it turns out the advertiser was "targeting" (if you can call it that) "people over 18 years of age, with a primary location in the United States." Seriously, WTF? I wish FB didn't even allow ads to be so broadly scoped. There is approximately NOTHING that is legitimately going to be of interest to everybody in that group. It's bad for the advertiser, bad for the user, and probably bad for Facebook to even have that. No, I say figure out that I'm a libertarian atheist with strong interests in open source software, bicycles, guns, and electronics test equipment, and show me ads for those things first and foremost. Target the hell out of me, please.

Tainnor 3y ago
But you don't get that choice. As long as ad companies have data about you, they can distribute you in whichever bucket they like. Similar to how I get recruiters offering me PHP positions on LinkedIn despite PHP not being anywhere close to my profile. There's no way for you to say "you can use my data but only the way I like it" unless you sign some explicit agreement. When you give up your data, you also consent to be placed into whatever bin they want you to be placed in. They don't care about whether you get to see exactly the ads that you want to see, as long as they believe their cost to benefit ratio is right. This is why you should want your data to belong to you, so that you could make an informed decision about what kind of content you see.
orangecat 3y ago
I want ads to be hyper-personalized, because I want them to be relevant. I don't, because ads are 10% informing me of the existence of products I might be interested in, and 90% psychological manipulation trying to induce me to buy stuff whether it's in my best interest or not. If the advertiser knows more about me, that can increase the effectiveness of their manipulation. I say figure out that I'm a libertarian atheist with strong interests in open source software, bicycles, guns, and electronics test equipment, and show me ads for those things first and foremost. Target the hell out of me, please. It seems like a win-win solution would be for browsers to send an optional user-controlled header describing your interests. Sort of like Google's topics API, but entirely under your control rather than mined from your browser history.

Tainnor 3y ago

But you don't get that choice. As long as ad companies have data about you, they can distribute you in whichever bucket they like. Similar to how I get recruiters offering me PHP positions on LinkedIn despite PHP not being anywhere close to my profile. There's no way for you to say "you can use my data but only the way I like it" unless you sign some explicit agreement. When you give up your data, you also consent to be placed into whatever bin they want you to be placed in. They don't care about whether you get to see exactly the ads that you want to see, as long as they believe their cost to benefit ratio is right. This is why you should want your data to belong to you, so that you could make an informed decision about what kind of content you see.

orangecat 3y ago

I want ads to be hyper-personalized, because I want them to be relevant. I don't, because ads are 10% informing me of the existence of products I might be interested in, and 90% psychological manipulation trying to induce me to buy stuff whether it's in my best interest or not. If the advertiser knows more about me, that can increase the effectiveness of their manipulation. I say figure out that I'm a libertarian atheist with strong interests in open source software, bicycles, guns, and electronics test equipment, and show me ads for those things first and foremost. Target the hell out of me, please. It seems like a win-win solution would be for browsers to send an optional user-controlled header describing your interests. Sort of like Google's topics API, but entirely under your control rather than mined from your browser history.