A large part of the web is free because of targeted advertising, but former Google employee Tim Hwang argues that it doesn’t even work.
He notes that while “some digital and social media messaging is quite effective,” it’s common for platforms and media agencies to triple (at least) its apparent value by wrongly crediting digital ads for purchases that consumers would have made anyway. Aral calls this “the most widely used shell game in business today.”
Or, as Hwang puts it: “The whole edifice of online advertising is, in short, bunk.”
Check It Out: When Will The Targeted Advertising Bubble Burst?
And lose the Google ads that cover content. Irritating me with that kind of stuff isn’t going to entice me to click through.
I’ve wondered about that for a while now. I know I flat out ignore any and all ads on web sites*, and I don’t know anyone that does follow them. For most people I know they are a joke. Literally there is a regular thing on Tumblr where people will repost screen shots of the most inappropriate online ad they’ve seen on the platform.
*Except of course for here on The Mac Observer. I always follow up the ones here.
On last Tuesday we bought a new car. We shared some photos of it on FaceBook, now I am seeing ads for cars. That might make sense had I mentioned in the post that we were shopping for new cars.