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A lot of the companies you mentioned have non trivial investments in ads. I recently was surprised to find how big of an ad business Adobe has for example. Not

A lot of the companies you mentioned have non trivial investments in ads. I recently was surprised to find how big of an ad business Adobe has for example. Not sure that these companies would cease to exist if it weren’t for advertising but ads do influence these companies’ products.

paxys 3y ago
Everyone has an investment in ads. Think news media, movies, TV, fashion, your local grocery store, a bus with a billboard on its side. That's just how the world runs. If you want to hold it against them then you are basically ranting against all of capitalism rather than anything specific to "big tech".
- SequoiaHope 3y ago
  > Everyone has an investment in ads. ... That's just how the world runs. Sure and some people take issue with aspects of how the world runs and want to discuss it. > If you want to hold it against them then you are basically ranting... Bold to state that making a critique of the status quo automatically amounts to "ranting". > ...against all of capitalism rather than anything specific to "big tech". It is not unreasonable to critique capitalism.
- gochi 3y ago
  It's important to make note of the fact that when we talk about tech giants having a notable investment in ads, it's not the mere display of ads. It's the capturing of profiles, selling of this information to the highest bidders, and the tracking of this display. When you understand that, you know that is not how the world runs and is actually very specific to big tech as they pioneered this hyper specific shift. You do not have access to everyone's information who sees your billboard. You do however have access to exactly how many people in a certain area during a certain time with the income between 50-100k who are older men who enjoy football, has seen your digital ad. Hopefully that illustrates the difference well enough.
- ksec 3y ago
  >If you want to hold it against them.... From 2018 to 2022, 95% of HN comments on the subject were against any form of Ads. Those who stood up for ads, were the absolute minority. But then I guess you are right. Because those group of people are also the ones "ranting against all of capitalism".
m463 3y ago
remember ads are not "showing a picture of sugar water to promote sales", they are surveillance, identification and manipulation.

paxys 3y ago

Everyone has an investment in ads. Think news media, movies, TV, fashion, your local grocery store, a bus with a billboard on its side. That's just how the world runs. If you want to hold it against them then you are basically ranting against all of capitalism rather than anything specific to "big tech".

SequoiaHope 3y ago
> Everyone has an investment in ads. ... That's just how the world runs. Sure and some people take issue with aspects of how the world runs and want to discuss it. > If you want to hold it against them then you are basically ranting... Bold to state that making a critique of the status quo automatically amounts to "ranting". > ...against all of capitalism rather than anything specific to "big tech". It is not unreasonable to critique capitalism.
gochi 3y ago
It's important to make note of the fact that when we talk about tech giants having a notable investment in ads, it's not the mere display of ads. It's the capturing of profiles, selling of this information to the highest bidders, and the tracking of this display. When you understand that, you know that is not how the world runs and is actually very specific to big tech as they pioneered this hyper specific shift. You do not have access to everyone's information who sees your billboard. You do however have access to exactly how many people in a certain area during a certain time with the income between 50-100k who are older men who enjoy football, has seen your digital ad. Hopefully that illustrates the difference well enough.
ksec 3y ago
>If you want to hold it against them.... From 2018 to 2022, 95% of HN comments on the subject were against any form of Ads. Those who stood up for ads, were the absolute minority. But then I guess you are right. Because those group of people are also the ones "ranting against all of capitalism".

m463 3y ago

remember ads are not "showing a picture of sugar water to promote sales", they are surveillance, identification and manipulation.