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The goal of any advertising service is to match people with relevant ads, and collecting data is a major part of how you do that. That’s what the author is refe

The goal of any advertising service is to match people with relevant ads, and collecting data is a major part of how you do that. That’s what the author is referring to.

mjevans 2y ago
Or they could base it on the content that's next to the ad.
- Terretta 2y ago
  NYT among others found ads placed with content outperformed ads attempting to target users. Also avoided awkwardly advertising things that shouldn't be advertised alongside certain content.
  - throwaway48476 2y ago
    This makes journalism on controversial subjects unprofitable. Who would want to do a content based ad on Israel/Gaza?
    - windhaven 2y ago
      Probably aid groups like the Red Cross? I’ve seen plenty of ads from organizations whose premise is “this terrible thing is happening, donate to help end it!”
      - throwaway48476 2y ago
        Fair enough.
- kulahan 2y ago
  They do both of these things simultaneously.
m463 2y ago
I'm talking about his conclusions from the "To be honest" paragraph. People are not matched with "relevant ads" due to their interests, it is due to the advertisers interest in your demographics. (also, the writer might be hedging his bets with ads/advertisers on his page)
- kulahan 2y ago
  Advertisers are only interested in the demographic of “might buy my stuff”, which is only people who can potentially be interested in your product. I dislike this game where we mince words like it changes the fundamental argument. The two crowds want to be linked up in a way that transfers money most happily from consumers to producers. Unhappy purchases are likely to result in returns. Of course, if one advertiser can keep your returns below a certain rate (or won’t cause them to explode), that’s more ideal, so naturally the market will select for companies that do this unless they have some other incredible metrics outweighing that. Really the only time this isn’t true is with companies designed around maximal waste - products are often too cheap to bother returning and are only meant to last a use or two anyways.
kyboren 2y ago
> The goal of any advertising service is to match people with relevant ads The goal of any advertising service is fully automated population-scale digital pimping, with an extremely sophisticated matchmaking service (backed by all that data) as a value-add. They put your ass on the RTB street to turn tricks. You get mindfucked by--and maybe catch some viruses from--any John who wants to take a crack at you. In return, you get this nice cheap TV/Youtube/Gmail/article. Bitch better have my money!

The goal of any advertising service is to match people with relevant ads, and collecting data is a major part of how you do that. That’s what the author is referring to.

mjevans 2y ago

Or they could base it on the content that's next to the ad.

Terretta 2y ago
NYT among others found ads placed with content outperformed ads attempting to target users. Also avoided awkwardly advertising things that shouldn't be advertised alongside certain content.
- throwaway48476 2y ago
  This makes journalism on controversial subjects unprofitable. Who would want to do a content based ad on Israel/Gaza?
  - windhaven 2y ago
    Probably aid groups like the Red Cross? I’ve seen plenty of ads from organizations whose premise is “this terrible thing is happening, donate to help end it!”
    - throwaway48476 2y ago
      Fair enough.
kulahan 2y ago
They do both of these things simultaneously.

m463 2y ago

I'm talking about his conclusions from the "To be honest" paragraph. People are not matched with "relevant ads" due to their interests, it is due to the advertisers interest in your demographics. (also, the writer might be hedging his bets with ads/advertisers on his page)

kulahan 2y ago
Advertisers are only interested in the demographic of “might buy my stuff”, which is only people who can potentially be interested in your product. I dislike this game where we mince words like it changes the fundamental argument. The two crowds want to be linked up in a way that transfers money most happily from consumers to producers. Unhappy purchases are likely to result in returns. Of course, if one advertiser can keep your returns below a certain rate (or won’t cause them to explode), that’s more ideal, so naturally the market will select for companies that do this unless they have some other incredible metrics outweighing that. Really the only time this isn’t true is with companies designed around maximal waste - products are often too cheap to bother returning and are only meant to last a use or two anyways.

kyboren 2y ago

> The goal of any advertising service is to match people with relevant ads The goal of any advertising service is fully automated population-scale digital pimping, with an extremely sophisticated matchmaking service (backed by all that data) as a value-add. They put your ass on the RTB street to turn tricks. You get mindfucked by--and maybe catch some viruses from--any John who wants to take a crack at you. In return, you get this nice cheap TV/Youtube/Gmail/article. Bitch better have my money!