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“Made site shittier to boost profit” describes nearly 100% of online advertising

vivekd 3y ago
Exactly! I would go further it applies to almost 100% of all advertising from TV to radio to billboards, poster ads ...
mynameisash 3y ago
I don't know what has happened to YouTube ads in the last year or so, but now that YT is cracking down on adblockers, I'm seeing a lot of them. One thing I'm noticing is that most ads are absolutely garbage. It was one thing to see the 'professional' ads for T-Mobile internet and makeup and whatnot, but I'm seeing a ton of clickbait-style ads for things that are very clearly get-rich-quick and/or straight-up scams. "This one new method of heating your house is taking America by storm!" "This new device that cleans your house in five minutes is being called revolutionary by experts."
- bcrosby95 3y ago
  I'm getting a lot of magical heating unit with obviously wrong information. Not only is it full of lies, I also love in socal, why the hell would I need an uber heater?
- jrmg 3y ago
  It amazes me how much advertising is literally fraud. Aren’t there authorities that are meant to police this kind of thing?
  - zx8080 3y ago
    It's a multibillion business and helps other businesses grow. And it even pays (some) taxes. Why would any authority even think about killing it?
    - medstrom 3y ago
      Consumers have a limited wallet anyway, and you know how most people are: they will spend most of their income anyway. So the ad business is more about shifting where the money goes, than about conferring any extra value.
      - zx8080 3y ago
        > Consumers have a limited wallet anyway Banks and VCs are laughing on this. Today's economy is not a zero-sum game. It's much more complex than that.
- tobyjsullivan 3y ago
  You may be seeing the ads but you’re likely still blocking the tracking/targeting. Disable targeted advertising on any platform that allows it and you’ll see the lowest form of generic click bait junk ads. Twitter used to allow this and I disabled only to be fed streams of shock-factor click bait rather than industry-relevant ads. High-quality, expensive, polished ads only go to demonstrably high-value demographics. Turns out there’s at least some merit to the argument that targeted ads create a better experience (for some, at least).
mapt 3y ago
"Raised prices to increase profits" describes many business decisions, but if a company does that after eliminating their competition, policymakers & economists understand that to be a bug of the algorithm 'capitalist market competition' that requires redress, a betrayal of a populace that has been sold a system on its merits (and is willing to tolerate its costs for those merits) but which is not displaying those merits consistently and is failing to improve our lives. Arguably a firm that has established itself as a standard marketplace with strong network effects, should not be allowed to favor certain products with disproportionate placement in exchange for a kickback. They have become more like a government body than a private enterprise, and if they're dumb enough to slaughter that golden goose for temporary boosts ("dinner"), their behavior demands a degree of regulation if we are to ensure market competition & ensure a benefit to consumers and manufacturers. What is the proposition for an independent vendor selling on Amazon? To them, the service of selling their merchandise is essentially a monopoly market, they don't get a choice of whether to participate, and Amazon charges high fees to start with and is now demanding ever-higher fees for reasonable search placement.

Exactly! I would go further it applies to almost 100% of all advertising from TV to radio to billboards, poster ads ...

I don't know what has happened to YouTube ads in the last year or so, but now that YT is cracking down on adblockers, I'm seeing a lot of them. One thing I'm noticing is that most ads are absolutely garbage. It was one thing to see the 'professional' ads for T-Mobile internet and makeup and whatnot, but I'm seeing a ton of clickbait-style ads for things that are very clearly get-rich-quick and/or straight-up scams. "This one new method of heating your house is taking America by storm!" "This new device that cleans your house in five minutes is being called revolutionary by experts."

bcrosby95 3y ago
I'm getting a lot of magical heating unit with obviously wrong information. Not only is it full of lies, I also love in socal, why the hell would I need an uber heater?
jrmg 3y ago
It amazes me how much advertising is literally fraud. Aren’t there authorities that are meant to police this kind of thing?
- zx8080 3y ago
  It's a multibillion business and helps other businesses grow. And it even pays (some) taxes. Why would any authority even think about killing it?
  - medstrom 3y ago
    Consumers have a limited wallet anyway, and you know how most people are: they will spend most of their income anyway. So the ad business is more about shifting where the money goes, than about conferring any extra value.
    - zx8080 3y ago
      > Consumers have a limited wallet anyway Banks and VCs are laughing on this. Today's economy is not a zero-sum game. It's much more complex than that.
tobyjsullivan 3y ago
You may be seeing the ads but you’re likely still blocking the tracking/targeting. Disable targeted advertising on any platform that allows it and you’ll see the lowest form of generic click bait junk ads. Twitter used to allow this and I disabled only to be fed streams of shock-factor click bait rather than industry-relevant ads. High-quality, expensive, polished ads only go to demonstrably high-value demographics. Turns out there’s at least some merit to the argument that targeted ads create a better experience (for some, at least).

mapt 3y ago

"Raised prices to increase profits" describes many business decisions, but if a company does that after eliminating their competition, policymakers & economists understand that to be a bug of the algorithm 'capitalist market competition' that requires redress, a betrayal of a populace that has been sold a system on its merits (and is willing to tolerate its costs for those merits) but which is not displaying those merits consistently and is failing to improve our lives. Arguably a firm that has established itself as a standard marketplace with strong network effects, should not be allowed to favor certain products with disproportionate placement in exchange for a kickback. They have become more like a government body than a private enterprise, and if they're dumb enough to slaughter that golden goose for temporary boosts ("dinner"), their behavior demands a degree of regulation if we are to ensure market competition & ensure a benefit to consumers and manufacturers. What is the proposition for an independent vendor selling on Amazon? To them, the service of selling their merchandise is essentially a monopoly market, they don't get a choice of whether to participate, and Amazon charges high fees to start with and is now demanding ever-higher fees for reasonable search placement.