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Google and Meta collectively employ how many software people in the United States? The jobs hit would be unimaginable. High octane nightmare fuel, that idea.

michaelt 2y ago
Doesn’t seem like a nightmare to me - a trillion dollars spent on ads that get blocked is a trillion dollars wasted. The real nightmare is hundreds of thousands of people on six figure salaries wasting their lives producing ads everyone hates.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago
  You're right. What was I thinking? Instead, they should be unemployed and starving, and all the services they bought from other Americans with their $200k/year salaries, those Americans should also be unemployed and starving too. All because you don't want to see an ad on whatever ridiculous social media it is that people are visiting now days. That will make the world right.
  - relaxing 2y ago
    Get a grip, mate.
ThrowawayR2 2y ago
"...total advertising has averaged about 1.3% to 2% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) over the past 20 years. ... In 2015, digital advertising corresponded to about 50% of total advertising spending and more recent estimates point to a share closer to 65% of total advertising spending. That represents about 0.6% to 1.1% of GDP. ..." from https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2024/oct/rise-digital-advertising-economic-implications https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2024/oct/rise-digi... So, nah. It's significant but not "nightmare fuel" even if online advertising entirely went away. (Which nobody is proposing, by the way.)
relaxing 2y ago
Google AI summary says: > As of December 2024, Meta Platforms had 74,067 full-time employees. This is down from 67,317 in 2023 lol. At least Gemini doesn’t make the same mistake for its makers: > As of 2024, Alphabet, Google's parent company, has 183,323 full-time employees Of course that’s total headcount, I couldn’t find figures for just US based SWEs. And in the US alone there are something like 200-400k SWE+IT job openings and 7M openings across all sectors. Verdict: after the dust settles, it would be a net benefit for everyone to get those bright minds working on real problems.

michaelt 2y ago

Doesn’t seem like a nightmare to me - a trillion dollars spent on ads that get blocked is a trillion dollars wasted. The real nightmare is hundreds of thousands of people on six figure salaries wasting their lives producing ads everyone hates.

NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago
You're right. What was I thinking? Instead, they should be unemployed and starving, and all the services they bought from other Americans with their $200k/year salaries, those Americans should also be unemployed and starving too. All because you don't want to see an ad on whatever ridiculous social media it is that people are visiting now days. That will make the world right.
- relaxing 2y ago
  Get a grip, mate.

ThrowawayR2 2y ago

"...total advertising has averaged about 1.3% to 2% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) over the past 20 years. ... In 2015, digital advertising corresponded to about 50% of total advertising spending and more recent estimates point to a share closer to 65% of total advertising spending. That represents about 0.6% to 1.1% of GDP. ..." from https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2024/oct/rise-digital-advertising-economic-implications https://www.stlouisfed.org/on-the-economy/2024/oct/rise-digi... So, nah. It's significant but not "nightmare fuel" even if online advertising entirely went away. (Which nobody is proposing, by the way.)

relaxing 2y ago

Google AI summary says: > As of December 2024, Meta Platforms had 74,067 full-time employees. This is down from 67,317 in 2023 lol. At least Gemini doesn’t make the same mistake for its makers: > As of 2024, Alphabet, Google's parent company, has 183,323 full-time employees Of course that’s total headcount, I couldn’t find figures for just US based SWEs. And in the US alone there are something like 200-400k SWE+IT job openings and 7M openings across all sectors. Verdict: after the dust settles, it would be a net benefit for everyone to get those bright minds working on real problems.