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Advertising is devastating to my well-being

briancarper.net

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Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#101

Post by metamemetics »

zaphar wrote: post #99
metamemetics wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

3rd party javascript ads hosted on ad servers should be blocked. The majority of them disrespect web site viewers, so it is a rational decision for web site viewers to block them. If a site is running ads that they don't mind being associated with and are worthy of reader's attention, they shouldnt mind hosting them directly from their webserver as content.

How does hosting the ad from their own website increase the chance an ad won't disrespect web site viewers? Just because the ad is hosted elsewhere doesn't mean the ads will be any better. If thy host them themselves then the website has to develop trusted analytics on the who saw the ad. Who clicked on the ad. Who bought something using the ad. All of these analytics are what make internet advertising worth it. With…

They WILL advertise. Just not via ridiculously-easy-to-block 3rd party javascript streaming ads. If the ads are displayed by the same method as the content, then they are obviously unblockable.

Sites will instead become a direct seller of the commodity of time units of ad space. The buyers will be advertisers. How can commodities be efficiently allocated between many buyers and sellers? It's called a market. If you've read one economics book you'll be able to come up with 10 possible business ideas from here.

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#102

Post by yters »

justinph wrote: post #23
kevinh wrote: post #2

As naive as this may make me sound, I think this attitude is hurting society. The idea that everyone is and should be trying to screw everyone else out of as much pleasure and profit as legal is, in my opinion, detrimental to society. When we stop doing things that don't negatively affect us much and help others, we've lost the benefits of altruism that helped our species evolve beyond the rest.

While I agree with the sentiment, that's a whole heck of a love of evolution to work against. Nature (think of life on the Serengeti) is all about screwing over one creature for the benefit of another.

Which is why society didn't evolve, it was designed. Only design can create global states which are contrary to local conditions.

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#103

Post by zaphar »

metamemetics wrote: post #101
zaphar wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does hosting the ad from their own website increase the chance an ad won't disrespect web site viewers? Just because the ad is hosted elsewhere doesn't mean the ads will be any better. If thy host them themselves then the website has to develop trusted analytics on the who saw the ad. Who clicked on the ad. Who bought something using the ad. All of these analytics are what make internet advertising worth it. With…

They WILL advertise. Just not via ridiculously-easy-to-block 3rd party javascript streaming ads. If the ads are displayed by the same method as the content, then they are obviously unblockable. Sites will instead become a direct seller of the commodity of time units of ad space. The buyers will be advertisers. How can commodities be efficiently allocated between many buyers and sellers? It's called a market. If you'v…

Those same economics books also will show the inevitability of middle men. The internet started with exactly the model you describe and evolved to it's current state. Expecting it to devolve back down is not a strategy I would back.

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#104

Post by thinkbohemian »

gizmo wrote: post #69
thinkbohemian wrote: post #32

What if someone made a browser plugin where every time an you visited a website it gave that website 1/1000th of a cent (and took 1/1000th of a cent out of your paypal/google-checkout/etc. account), and in exchange that website saw the plugin and served you a version with no ads. How many people would choose to use this plugin?

I would. Of course, every website in the world would have to support it and micropayments don't work, so... it's not realistic.

You don't have to get every website to support it, just the big name advertisers. If the money went straight to adwords... that covers 80% of web real estate.

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#105

Post by andywood »

briancarper wrote: post #55
petercooper wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I looked at the ads on Ars briefly, both animated Flash ads, one for razor blades and the other I couldn't even tell what it was selling. I admit to being very emotional about this !?? Is this April 1st or will you next claim that the letters "g" and "x" upset you too? What about the number 283?

I am emotional about advertising in general, not those ads in particular. I am not frothing at the mouth over a single ad, no. Are you OK with a bunch of marketing guys sitting in an office thinking "How can we manipulate people's sex drives to maximize profit this week?" Razor commercials: Hunky guy shaves; heavily-airbrushed, scantily-clad woman looks on longingly. Implication: Buy our razors, get laid. Flashing li…

FWIW, I share these sentiments 100%, and thought your post was great.

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#106

Post by scrod »

fexl wrote: post #52
justinph wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree with the sentiment, that's a whole heck of a love of evolution to work against. Nature (think of life on the Serengeti) is all about screwing over one creature for the benefit of another.

Human survival and wealth depend on voluntary production and trade. That is already baked into the evolutionary cake. If human behavior ever became "all about screwing over" other people, initiating force, and taking property without consent, then the human race would die out. Of course, a small portion of humans can and do live that way, but that is an aberration. If it ever becomes the norm, misery, illness, povert…

I sure hope you're not suggesting that the recognition and protection of private property is somehow linked with the survival of the species, because that would demonstrate a pretty shallow view of history.

Indeed, the notion of "private property" often comes hand in hand with authoritarian force: http://everything2.com/title/The+Enclosure+Movement

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#107

Post by copper »

ErrantX wrote: post #39
MichaelGG wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point about books was "I pay for a book".

Yes that was the point. Books have no ads in because it's paid for.

Books do advertise, though in a much more tasteful manner: What would you call the one-page blurbs that contain a listing of other books by the author, and maybe even teaser chapters of other books that trade paperbacks contain?

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#108

Post by ryanwaggoner »

briancarper wrote: post #59
petercooper wrote: post #41

Stop making the world a garish and hideous place to live by flooding it with ads. There are people so soft that they consider the world a "hideous place to live" because of some advertising? There are people who can barely eat each day without getting so offended by a few commercials. It so happens that advertisements are devastating to my well-being. This is crazy talk. Is it even possible to argue against someone w…

I use hyperbole to emphasize a point. I don't cry myself to sleep when I see an ad, no. Sometimes I become mildly annoyed. Life is generally OK. Likewise, ad-blocking isn't really "devastating" the internet, is it?

Speaking for myself, it's very difficult to take you seriously when you use hyperbole to this extreme. Let's be completely honest here: you wrote it this way because you knew it would get more of a reaction and people wouldn't just ignore it, like they would have if you had written "It mildly annoys me." In other words, you changed your messaging to fit the market and get the results you wanted from people through emotional manipulation. Sound familiar?

Re: Advertising is devastating to my well-being

#110

Post by zacharypinter »

adammichaelc wrote: post #64

"The idea that I have a moral obligation to stare at an advertisment, the thought I have an ethical obligation to voluntarily annoy myself for the sake of a company's profits... it would be hilarious if it wasn't so repugnant." The author seems to be saying that he is entitled to take from the creator of content without having any obligation to give something in return. I believe that this misses one of the most basi…

I think the author is trying to say ask if people should treat the cat-and-mouse game between businesses and consumers with the same respect as exchanges between individuals. I agree it's morally questionable to "get, get, get, and not be willing to give", however, how many companies do you expect to think that way when dealing with consumers?
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