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Problems coming for online publishing

blogs.harvard.edu

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Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#11

Post by beambot »

purple-again wrote: post #7

If the backlash lasts long enough to really change the landscape of non explicit permission data gathering then an opportunity for hacker news one million jobs may arise. How much is my data worth? I’ll sign a buncb of revenue sharing agreements with YouTube, Google, Mozilla, Facebook etc if the price is right. I know that HN has a lot of really heavy pro privacy advocates but I hope you can recognize a lot of people…

Really does seem like an interesting use of smart contracts?

And it's not just social data -- there's probably real personal and societal benefit to collaboration around medical data too.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#12

Post by graeme »

IAmEveryone wrote: post #4

This is a rather asinine line of argumentation. (a) The New York Time's newsroom and editorial staff are rather well-separated from their business department which makes decision about ad tech on their website. If you don't believe me, see this paragraph from a recent article at The Atlantic, which operates by the same principle: As you read this article on The Atlantic, roughly three dozen ad trackers are watching y…

The mentions your first point, fairly early on.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#13

Post by dominotw »

purple-again wrote: post #7

If the backlash lasts long enough to really change the landscape of non explicit permission data gathering then an opportunity for hacker news one million jobs may arise. How much is my data worth? I’ll sign a buncb of revenue sharing agreements with YouTube, Google, Mozilla, Facebook etc if the price is right. I know that HN has a lot of really heavy pro privacy advocates but I hope you can recognize a lot of people…

> people don’t share those concerns and would happyily welcome a little passive income stream in their lives.

This is what I gathered from moviepass privacy thread on HN. Most people didn't care about sharing location if it gave them cheap movie tickets.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#14

Post by RyanShook »

purple-again wrote: post #7

If the backlash lasts long enough to really change the landscape of non explicit permission data gathering then an opportunity for hacker news one million jobs may arise. How much is my data worth? I’ll sign a buncb of revenue sharing agreements with YouTube, Google, Mozilla, Facebook etc if the price is right. I know that HN has a lot of really heavy pro privacy advocates but I hope you can recognize a lot of people…

Great point. Makes you think there may be room for another ad middle man that offers more to consumers because pretty much all adtech right now is built on top of Google, FB, or Apple ad platforms.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#16

Post by ReverseCold »

osrec wrote: post #10

I am rather skeptical of the effectiveness of online advertising, despite all the tracking and profiling. I see companies like Google and Facebook post bumper profits, yet I see users becoming smarter at avoiding ads. Something doesn't quite add up, and because the validity of clicks is shrouded in mystery, it's not difficult for the platform owners to play dirty. I have had very little success with online ads for my…

> yet what worked really well for acquiring users was releasing a JS library for free

I notice this with a lot of new OSS. E.x. Etcher is basically an ad for Resin (tired of flashing SD cards? Use resin and do it with a git push.)

This is the best form of advertising because I get a free useful tool out of it.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#17

Post by godzillabrennus »

osrec wrote: post #10

I am rather skeptical of the effectiveness of online advertising, despite all the tracking and profiling. I see companies like Google and Facebook post bumper profits, yet I see users becoming smarter at avoiding ads. Something doesn't quite add up, and because the validity of clicks is shrouded in mystery, it's not difficult for the platform owners to play dirty. I have had very little success with online ads for my…

I know someone who has a company with over a billion unique visitors a year and they only bring in tens of millions a year in revenue.

I have a site with over a million uniques a year and we did almost thousands a year in revenue.

We are far from experts on selling ads but still it’s a tough way to monetize something small.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#18

Post by benatkin »

osrec wrote: post #10

I am rather skeptical of the effectiveness of online advertising, despite all the tracking and profiling. I see companies like Google and Facebook post bumper profits, yet I see users becoming smarter at avoiding ads. Something doesn't quite add up, and because the validity of clicks is shrouded in mystery, it's not difficult for the platform owners to play dirty. I have had very little success with online ads for my…

To see what's most effective it might be better to watch how ad companies are selling their own services than to follow their advice. It seems like they're getting more through sales staff and content marketing and that online ads are only a small part of what gets them sales.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#19

Post by huac »

IAmEveryone wrote: post #4

This is a rather asinine line of argumentation. (a) The New York Time's newsroom and editorial staff are rather well-separated from their business department which makes decision about ad tech on their website. If you don't believe me, see this paragraph from a recent article at The Atlantic, which operates by the same principle: As you read this article on The Atlantic, roughly three dozen ad trackers are watching y…

It's plausible that a world of ad brokers (with many smaller ad buys) is better than a world of few but very large ad engagements, vis a vis the Chinese firewall. In that world, a single advertiser would have enough (purchasing) power over the newspaper, to the point where they could veto an article critical of that advertiser.

Re: Problems coming for online publishing

#20

Post by osrec »

ReverseCold wrote: post #16
osrec wrote: post #10

I am rather skeptical of the effectiveness of online advertising, despite all the tracking and profiling. I see companies like Google and Facebook post bumper profits, yet I see users becoming smarter at avoiding ads. Something doesn't quite add up, and because the validity of clicks is shrouded in mystery, it's not difficult for the platform owners to play dirty. I have had very little success with online ads for my…

> yet what worked really well for acquiring users was releasing a JS library for free I notice this with a lot of new OSS. E.x. Etcher is basically an ad for Resin (tired of flashing SD cards? Use resin and do it with a git push.) This is the best form of advertising because I get a free useful tool out of it.

Yes absolutely. I think if you want people to give you their time and trust, you have to give them something of value in return. We're working on releasing more OSS as it really does help to bolster our business. In fact, we are even thinking of making Bx itself free, and simply taking a small cut when users receive payment for invoices raised on the platform.
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