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The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
21–30 of 88 posts
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#22This seems like another example of bad stuff happening for game-theoretic reasons, so individual action won't help, the only solution is regulation. Ban tracking for a start. It's similar to banning outdoor billboard ads, which many places have done with good results.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#23This is a repost. I'm guessing due to the blowup of the electron post. There is no right answer. A huge fat bloated website can be successful (see BuzzFeed for the general population), or a lightweight text based informational website can be successful (see hacker news for you guys). Same thing for the electron debate. A bloated web app ported to desktop could just be as successful as a native app and vice versa. The…
It was never about the code.
It was always about the products.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#24This is a repost. I'm guessing due to the blowup of the electron post. There is no right answer. A huge fat bloated website can be successful (see BuzzFeed for the general population), or a lightweight text based informational website can be successful (see hacker news for you guys). Same thing for the electron debate. A bloated web app ported to desktop could just be as successful as a native app and vice versa. The…
It was never about the code. It was always about the products.
Agreed and up-voted. I think that is what I was trying to say in my rant. I guess as a developer though it's hard to come to terms with the fact that you are creating crap.
I went through the same thing when I was a musician so it stings doubly.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#25Agree 100%.
Advertising is a zero sum game. If an advertiser's budget is $5, they will spend $5. They will spend $5 on as many dumb ads as they can get, and they will spend that $5 using very targeted means if available.
There's a tremendous amount of effort expended in the ad industry with very little real effect than to direct ad dollars through that platform and maybe provide a temporary lift to response rates.
But honestly, it's all garbage. The more prevalent advertising is, the more people ignore it. Especially targeted ads. Hell, the targeting algorithms aren't even all that good - even in 2017. I bought an electric razor the other day, and I have been getting ads for electric razors ever since. Why? I already bought one. I won't need another for at least a year. These algorithms are stupid and likely don't boost anything.
Anyway, once a new generation of ad buyers comes on board, expect the bubble to pop. The fundamentals are garbage.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was never about the code. It was always about the products.
Agreed and up-voted. I think that is what I was trying to say in my rant. I guess as a developer though it's hard to come to terms with the fact that you are creating crap. I went through the same thing when I was a musician so it stings doubly.
The media fetishized a "techno-genius" that never really existed. Design and development are two very different skills, and it's rare to find a person who is good at both.
But all things equal, a good product person can make do with shitty developers. Good developers can never overcome shitty product design. If you want to design apps, go to school for design.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#27Wonderfully put, especially this sad tidbit: I tried to capture a movie of myself scrolling through the Verge Apple watch review, but failed. The graphics card on my late-model Apple laptop could literally not cope with the load.
What the hell did you just send me to? If I hadn't already known this was real I would have thought I was on a parody website. A movie that advances frame-by-frame as you scroll? Seriously?
What's funny is it looked good and performed very well before I allowed the page to run scripts.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#28"This is a screenshot from an article on NPR discussing the rising use of ad blockers. It is 12 megabytes in size..." Hmmm. When I save this page from my browser it's 116k. "... in a stock web browser." Ah-ha. Perhaps the web browser I am using is not "stock". If so, I can still read the article without a "stock" browser, so not sure what is behind this "stock" idea. I am assuming reading the article is the goal? Cou…
A "stock" web browser is just a newly installed browser before any add-ons are installed.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#29Agree 100%. Advertising is a zero sum game. If an advertiser's budget is $5, they will spend $5. They will spend $5 on as many dumb ads as they can get, and they will spend that $5 using very targeted means if available. There's a tremendous amount of effort expended in the ad industry with very little real effect than to direct ad dollars through that platform and maybe provide a temporary lift to response rates. Bu…
Advertising is not remotely zero-sum, as your own electric razor example demonstrates. Better targeting is win-win-win - the advertiser doesn't want to advertise something you have no interest in buying, you don't want to see an ad for something you have no interest in buying, and the site doesn't want to be associated with irrelevant ads either.
Re: The Website Obesity Crisis (2015)
#30Agree 100%. Advertising is a zero sum game. If an advertiser's budget is $5, they will spend $5. They will spend $5 on as many dumb ads as they can get, and they will spend that $5 using very targeted means if available. There's a tremendous amount of effort expended in the ad industry with very little real effect than to direct ad dollars through that platform and maybe provide a temporary lift to response rates. Bu…
I don't agree with your targeted ads assessment. My targeted ads are so right it is downright spooky. I swear I have only THOUGHT about buying some obscure item and then boom there it is right there in a sidebar ad.
Honestly I don't even mind, I'd rather look at ads for things I want, rather than things I have no interest in.