I don't know how much better it would actually be! We'll have ads no matter what. And honestly, I prefer the relevant and targeted ads compared to what we had before.
> And honestly, I prefer the relevant and targeted ads compared to what we had before.
I don't mind ads that are relevant, according to the context.
I mind ads that are generated based on a profile one or more companies have built about me.
Yeah, let's see ads about RC models in a forum about RC models, or ads about Bluetooth modules in a website about microelectronics. That's fine. They will still make money, and the ads would still be somehow targeted.
I don't need to see ads relevant to my Google searches about grieving, when I browse the news.
I agree with you that it would be favorable experience. But sites are going to offer you the ads that make them the most money if their goal is to make money. This may mean if it's between an RC car or viagra ads, you're gonna get the viagra ads (or insert non-context ad in place of viagra).
With kindness, I guess pay for the news then? In a more general sense, if one doesn't want to see so many ads then one should spend less time online, or try to visit sources that don't depend on ads. But for some reason people don't want to pay for the things they value.
> But sites are going to offer you the ads that make them the most money if their goal is to make money. This may mean if it's between an RC car or viagra ads, you're gonna get the viagra ads (or insert non-context ad in place of viagra).
Interesting choice, either give up and let them monetize my online persona, or be exposed to crappy ads.
I'll take the crappy, non targeted ads, then.
> In a more general sense, if one doesn't want to see so many ads then one should spend less time online, or try to visit sources that don't depend on ads.
That is definitely not what I said.
The issue isn't ads themselves, but targeted ads. Targeted ads rely on intensive and continuous user profiling, even outside of the sites showing those ads, i.e. there is a third party spying on every single move you make online, then selling that to others.
> But for some reason people don't want to pay for the things they value.
That's honestly funny, because I value my privacy, yet the suggestion is that I'm not entitled to it if I use online services supported by ads?
We have been seeing ads on TV, newspapers, magazines, since forever, but I have never got any targeted ads on those. That business seemed to work fine without having to profile every single consumer.
What's the reasoning behind telling someone to "spend less time online" if they don't want to contribute for free to a perverse multibillion industry, when the alternative has been there for centuries?
