4 ms·

Are you willing to pay for all internet websites then?

mcv 3y ago
Banning personalised ads does not mean banning all ads. Although personally, I'm no fan of any kind of ads, and I wouldn't mind if the entire ad industry disappeared. And if that means ad-driven websites disappear too, I don't see that as a big loss. The best websites are not ad-driven.
- kwanbix 3y ago
  Do you think a generic ad has the same value as a personalzied ad?
  - mcv 3y ago
    I think they're all worthless.
    - RestlessMind 3y ago
      You are wrong. Personalized ads are worth far more to advertisers and publishers. Also to the end users based on their actual behavior. Source - worked on ads for a few years at FAANG.
      - mcv 3y ago
        Yeah, but they're worthless to me. I don't think I've ever clicked one of those personalised ads. Their personalisation sucks, they generally show stuff that's not remotely relevant to me, and I've long ago learned not to click any ads.
- RestlessMind 3y ago
  > Banning personalised ads does not mean banning all ads. People prefer personalized ads. I know many friends who like Instagram ads, but don't care about ads on some random news site.
xigoi 3y ago
Many websites don't have ads, and I'd be happy if all others disappeared.
- chroma 3y ago
  Ok but you’re not the only person on the internet. Other people have different preferences, and in fact some even enjoy personalized ads. Nobody is forcing you to look at ads on the internet, so why is it fair to force others to not look at ads on the internet?
  - xigoi 3y ago
    If some people like being spied on and some don't, why would you oppose the legislation that websites should let people choose for themselves if they want to be spied on?
  - mcv 3y ago
    The solution is obvious: make personalised ads and ad profiles opt-in. Those who want them can choose to give up their privacy and eye-ball capacity, while the rest of can be free from those intrusions.
  - thfuran 3y ago
    And I’m sure that some people like being paid sub-livable wages in company scrip. But that the preference exists doesn’t mean it’s in society’s best interest to let those people get what they want.
- RestlessMind 3y ago
  Can you please share the list of websites you use which don't serve ads? Would love to see an internet experience without ads and without stealing the content via adblockers.
  - xigoi 3y ago
    It's not possible to provide an exhaustive list, but for example: * Hacker News (has promoted content, but without tracking) * Lobste.rs * Wikipedia * Mastodon * Project Euler * Notabug.org * Lingva Translate * Documentation for numerous FOSS projects * Various personal blogs Honestly, it's hard for me to find websites that I regularly voluntarily use and do contain ads.
thfuran 3y ago
I think the prevalence of free-to-use websites is a collosal market failure. They're a massive distortion to markets, far bigger than Uber running around losing billions a year, and they also put their thumbs on the scale more directly by deciding that certain things/topics can't be advertised or advertised on.

mcv 3y ago

Banning personalised ads does not mean banning all ads. Although personally, I'm no fan of any kind of ads, and I wouldn't mind if the entire ad industry disappeared. And if that means ad-driven websites disappear too, I don't see that as a big loss. The best websites are not ad-driven.

kwanbix 3y ago
Do you think a generic ad has the same value as a personalzied ad?
- mcv 3y ago
  I think they're all worthless.
  - RestlessMind 3y ago
    You are wrong. Personalized ads are worth far more to advertisers and publishers. Also to the end users based on their actual behavior. Source - worked on ads for a few years at FAANG.
    - mcv 3y ago
      Yeah, but they're worthless to me. I don't think I've ever clicked one of those personalised ads. Their personalisation sucks, they generally show stuff that's not remotely relevant to me, and I've long ago learned not to click any ads.
RestlessMind 3y ago
> Banning personalised ads does not mean banning all ads. People prefer personalized ads. I know many friends who like Instagram ads, but don't care about ads on some random news site.

xigoi 3y ago

Many websites don't have ads, and I'd be happy if all others disappeared.

chroma 3y ago
Ok but you’re not the only person on the internet. Other people have different preferences, and in fact some even enjoy personalized ads. Nobody is forcing you to look at ads on the internet, so why is it fair to force others to not look at ads on the internet?
- xigoi 3y ago
  If some people like being spied on and some don't, why would you oppose the legislation that websites should let people choose for themselves if they want to be spied on?
- mcv 3y ago
  The solution is obvious: make personalised ads and ad profiles opt-in. Those who want them can choose to give up their privacy and eye-ball capacity, while the rest of can be free from those intrusions.
- thfuran 3y ago
  And I’m sure that some people like being paid sub-livable wages in company scrip. But that the preference exists doesn’t mean it’s in society’s best interest to let those people get what they want.
RestlessMind 3y ago
Can you please share the list of websites you use which don't serve ads? Would love to see an internet experience without ads and without stealing the content via adblockers.
- xigoi 3y ago
  It's not possible to provide an exhaustive list, but for example: * Hacker News (has promoted content, but without tracking) * Lobste.rs * Wikipedia * Mastodon * Project Euler * Notabug.org * Lingva Translate * Documentation for numerous FOSS projects * Various personal blogs Honestly, it's hard for me to find websites that I regularly voluntarily use and do contain ads.

thfuran 3y ago

I think the prevalence of free-to-use websites is a collosal market failure. They're a massive distortion to markets, far bigger than Uber running around losing billions a year, and they also put their thumbs on the scale more directly by deciding that certain things/topics can't be advertised or advertised on.