4 ms·

"Personalized" advertising is just plain dumb --- and it is only a matter of time before advertisers are forced to reach the same obvious conclusion as consumer

"Personalized" advertising is just plain dumb --- and it is only a matter of time before advertisers are forced to reach the same obvious conclusion as consumers.

dotcoma 3y ago
I agree, but I've been waiting for this moment to arrive for over a decade...
- jqpabc123 3y ago
  It's coming. Progress is being made. A decade ago, the majority of Americans weren't using ad blockers.
  - dotcoma 3y ago
    This is true, but I predicted we'd get to 50% much faster than we did.
    - jqpabc123 3y ago
      Remember that half the public is of below average intelligence.
      - snapplebobapple 3y ago
        Only if the distribution isn't skewed. It might be substantially more than half...
        jqpabc123 3y ago
        Yes, the technically correct phrase is "below median" --- but a lot of people don't understand the difference so why bother?
riku_iki 3y ago
> "Personalized" advertising is just plain dumb Could you elaborate? Imo it is the most efficient way of advertising..
- jqpabc123 3y ago
  Searching for a product or visiting a web site can trigger "personalized" ads that follow you all over the internet --- even on totally unrelated web sites --- even after you've already made a purchase and no longer have any need for the product. This violates your privacy, wastes your time and communication bandwidth and squanders advertiser's money. In other words, it is just plain dumb --- and most consumers are now blocking it. A much more reasonable/sensible alternative --- "context sensitive" advertising. Only show ads when the consumer specifically expresses an interest --- not next week or next month, not while he is doing something totally unrelated, not long after a purchase has already been.
  - riku_iki 3y ago
    > squanders advertiser's money advertisers know how to count money. If those Ads won't be efficient, you wouldn't see them. If you see them, it means they are efficient and lead to actual user engagements. > it is just plain dumb --- and most consumers are now blocking it. Consumers are blocking them because companies abused them, this also applied to "contextual" Ads like on youtube and google search, if company put too many of them, users will be blocking them regardless of targeting approach. > A much more reasonable/sensible alternative --- "context sensitive" advertising. Only show ads when the consumer specifically expresses an interest Advertisers obviously run those campaigns too. If that interest is very strong and well monetized, advertiser will shift funds to that slice, but that's not always the case, hence we see "personalized" Ads, because they are more efficient in many cases.
    - withinboredom 3y ago
      I worked for two companies that turned off Google ads. Revenue didn’t even change at all. It was never turned back on. Advertisers know how to count money, but they are too scared to turn off advertising to find out if they even work.
tim333 3y ago
I'm not a fan and block ads but doesn't it make sense to advertise people something they are likely to want? I've seen it work fairly well on facebook with them popping up holiday suggestions that match fairly well with what users tend to book. I've also had the awful version where I bought an oven and then for quite a while after all ads were for ovens. Which of course I had no interest in having just bought one. I don't know how long that went on for as I blocked them all. I wouldn't mind the ad industry recommending me cheap and competent lawyers near me as I'm haveing issues with the expensive incompetent ones but that seems beyond the realms of possibility.
- jqpabc123 3y ago
  doesn't it make sense to advertise people something they are likely to want? Your oven experience is a perfect example. Showing you oven ads when you are searching for an oven makes some sense. This is called "context sensitive" advertising. Showing you oven ads on totally unrelated web sites long after you already bought one is the dumb "personalized" advertising that most people are now blocking.

"Personalized" advertising is just plain dumb --- and it is only a matter of time before advertisers are forced to reach the same obvious conclusion as consumers.

dotcoma 3y ago

I agree, but I've been waiting for this moment to arrive for over a decade...

jqpabc123 3y ago
It's coming. Progress is being made. A decade ago, the majority of Americans weren't using ad blockers.
- dotcoma 3y ago
  This is true, but I predicted we'd get to 50% much faster than we did.
  - jqpabc123 3y ago
    Remember that half the public is of below average intelligence.
    - snapplebobapple 3y ago
      Only if the distribution isn't skewed. It might be substantially more than half...
      - jqpabc123 3y ago
        Yes, the technically correct phrase is "below median" --- but a lot of people don't understand the difference so why bother?

riku_iki 3y ago

> "Personalized" advertising is just plain dumb Could you elaborate? Imo it is the most efficient way of advertising..

jqpabc123 3y ago
Searching for a product or visiting a web site can trigger "personalized" ads that follow you all over the internet --- even on totally unrelated web sites --- even after you've already made a purchase and no longer have any need for the product. This violates your privacy, wastes your time and communication bandwidth and squanders advertiser's money. In other words, it is just plain dumb --- and most consumers are now blocking it. A much more reasonable/sensible alternative --- "context sensitive" advertising. Only show ads when the consumer specifically expresses an interest --- not next week or next month, not while he is doing something totally unrelated, not long after a purchase has already been.
- riku_iki 3y ago
  > squanders advertiser's money advertisers know how to count money. If those Ads won't be efficient, you wouldn't see them. If you see them, it means they are efficient and lead to actual user engagements. > it is just plain dumb --- and most consumers are now blocking it. Consumers are blocking them because companies abused them, this also applied to "contextual" Ads like on youtube and google search, if company put too many of them, users will be blocking them regardless of targeting approach. > A much more reasonable/sensible alternative --- "context sensitive" advertising. Only show ads when the consumer specifically expresses an interest Advertisers obviously run those campaigns too. If that interest is very strong and well monetized, advertiser will shift funds to that slice, but that's not always the case, hence we see "personalized" Ads, because they are more efficient in many cases.
  - withinboredom 3y ago
    I worked for two companies that turned off Google ads. Revenue didn’t even change at all. It was never turned back on. Advertisers know how to count money, but they are too scared to turn off advertising to find out if they even work.

tim333 3y ago

I'm not a fan and block ads but doesn't it make sense to advertise people something they are likely to want? I've seen it work fairly well on facebook with them popping up holiday suggestions that match fairly well with what users tend to book. I've also had the awful version where I bought an oven and then for quite a while after all ads were for ovens. Which of course I had no interest in having just bought one. I don't know how long that went on for as I blocked them all. I wouldn't mind the ad industry recommending me cheap and competent lawyers near me as I'm haveing issues with the expensive incompetent ones but that seems beyond the realms of possibility.

jqpabc123 3y ago
doesn't it make sense to advertise people something they are likely to want? Your oven experience is a perfect example. Showing you oven ads when you are searching for an oven makes some sense. This is called "context sensitive" advertising. Showing you oven ads on totally unrelated web sites long after you already bought one is the dumb "personalized" advertising that most people are now blocking.