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> results in a materially worse world. Please explain how Google has created a materially worse world
by richwater 2y ago
> results in a materially worse world.
Please explain how Google has created a materially worse world
- idle_zealot 2y agoUh, I did. That's what the whole "surveillance system" part of the post was. Also I think advertisements in general are harmful.
- dvngnt_ 2y agohow do people learn of products?
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- ssklash 2y agoIf ads are the only way people are able to learn about products, then there is clearly a massive failure of imagination, as well as innovation. People know what they need, and have always known. The concept of exploiting human psychology in order to sell more of a product to people who likely don't need it is a relatively recent development in human history. Plus you can just search for stuff you need in a search engine...
- bluGill 2y ago> People know what they need, and have always known No we don't. I need a better mouse trap, but I already have mouse traps that work, so if you make a better one you need me to find out about it otherwise I'll just buy the same old not so good ones out of habit thinking they work as good as any other one. There are also problems that I don't even know I have. There are a lot of houses with terrible insulation that the owners really need some advertisement to get them to upgrade - it will pay off in just a few years.
- idle_zealot 2y agoThese ads do not need to interrupt people's lives to make their cases. If that mouse trap is so good then people who are in the market will discover it by active searching, then spread their discovery. If the new insulation will save people money then that's newsworthy information and will be reported on in information outlets that people subscribe to. The idea that businesses paying to push awareness is the only way people might discover previously unknown products and services is absurd.
- timeon 2y agoIf you think the mouse traps work you probably do not need other. Anyway, marketing is not good way to find about flaws of current ways. Because that is not it's focus.
- bluGill 2y agothey work but if something else is better.
- idle_zealot 2y agoAt a time of their choosing they can subject themselves to marketing material (yellow pages) or simple word-of-mouth amplified by the Internet. Treating "knowledge of your product/service" as a market commodity is bizarre and has overall negative effects on competition (more money buys more awareness equals more sales).
- ta1243 2y agoI used to buy a magazine called "Computer Shopper", which I heard about via word of mouth. Even now I will go out of my way to watch adverts for things like films I might be interested in. Need to be careful with word of mouth though, many adverts are spread by word of mouth, especially on the internet where people are paid to say "hey this new $product is great". Those are worse that clearly marked ads.
- lovethevoid 2y agoThe same way you learned about hacker news.
- ta1243 2y agoIf ads were to benefit the customer, then they would be opt-in
- alexashka 2y agoIt's a paperclip maximizer. Paperclip maximizers are bad.
- nickpp 2y agoLife is a "paperclip maximizer".
- ssklash 2y agoWhat part of being a massive ad company whose raison d'etre is to collect as much personal information about you as possible (with limited or no consent) to enable other people to try to convince you to buy stuff even remotely a net positive for the world?
- pawelmurias 2y agoI would prefer to see ads for things that I want rather then see ads for stuff I couldn't care less about. If I get convinced to buy useful things it's a win/win.
- idle_zealot 2y agoIf you and enough others find such fine-tuned recommendations helpful then they would continue to exist without intrusive advertising. There are entire magazines full of ads that people pay for.
- timeon 2y agoThis seems like Stockholm syndrome.
- EasyMark 2y agoThat could an opt in option, but the rest of us don’t want it. Google (or whatever ad company replaces it (Addled?) could give you the chance to opt in to ads and leave the rest of us alone. I’m fine with seeing ads about hunting when I’m on a gun sales website or local restaurants if I’m looking at recipes on Epicurious, just stop following me around, creeper (google)
- nickpp 2y ago> convince you to buy stuff Ever bought something you didn't actually want? Were you persuaded to want something? What was the exact mechanism? Were you lied to? "Made to" somehow? > net positive for the world How exactly do you find out what is "net positive for the world"? Who assigns the the values and who does the tallying?
- ksenzee 2y agoThe choices are not “Google as it currently exists” vs “a world without Google,” but rather “Google as it currently exists” and “Google as subject to stricter regulation.” There’s a fair case to be made that the world is worse than it would have been if the US had kept a tighter rein on Google.
- causal 2y agoYeah, so little imagination in these pro-Google comments. They're imagining a world without Google instead of a world where ten Googles are all competing with one another.