It is interesting how this article starts. A guy has an app which drains users batteries. But it's not his fault of course, because it's the ad company. Except the ad company says it's not their fault, because the ad came from some other company. This fingerpointing points to one of the core problems of the ad industry: They created a system where nobody knows who's responsible for anything, so malware and fraud has…
> This fingerpointing points to one of the core problems of the ad industry: They created a system where nobody knows who's responsible for anything, so malware and fraud has an easy time.
It is interesting how this article starts. A guy has an app which drains users batteries. But it's not his fault of course, because it's the ad company. Except the ad company says it's not their fault, because the ad came from some other company. This fingerpointing points to one of the core problems of the ad industry: They created a system where nobody knows who's responsible for anything, so malware and fraud has…
Yeah, many supposedly legit websites (even large media companies) run these very scammy "man from YOUR LOCATION got rich in 20 days!" "one weird trick to get younger" ads that ultimately lead to some scam But if you ask them, it's not their fault, but the ad company (Google), which in turn will point to a different company, etc And in the end, people are scammed and Google gets a bit richer, but it's nobody's fault o…
Even worse, I've seen several large media companies and news sites run ads on mobile that completely hijack the (Android, i.e. Chrome) browser and redirect to a third party landing page. They usually seem to get killed off eventually but every now and then they pop up again.
I'm not sure if these ads specifically target Android devices but it wouldn't surprise me.
Mobile phones, sure. Smartphones? That's a bit more debatable. At the very least, a cheap smartphone is probably fine for most "economic" needs. What we need less of is idle high-noise-low-quality content consumption, which is also the thing that's most supported by advertisement.
Smartphones, cheap or not, are not a problem. The core benefits they bring to poor people are mobile data connection, web browser, phone connection and IMs bundled in a single device. None of that is "supported by ads". The problems of smartphones (that are beyond mobile phones) start with the application ecosystem, completely disfigured by the cancer of advertising.
Fair point. Most of us here on HN don't require smartphones for that, but I take your point. Everything you list as a key benefit for poor people doesn't require an expensive smartphone, or at least, wouldn't if adverts weren't sucking up the compute and battery power when using a web browser ;) More seriously, though, beyond those basic capabilities, which we (ie not poor people) have had as long as I've been using the internet and while crappy adverts have always existed (punch the monkey and win a prize!) online, the amount of low quality content we consume has increased substantially, largely due to social media imho, which is supported by ads and is what I'm arguing against. I don't disagree with what you said here at all.
> Advertising is a scourge upon society. I understand where you're coming from, but that's painting with a pretty broad brush. Advertising covers everything from the signage stating the name of the mom-and-pop shop on the corner (which is why cities often limit the size of logos/names on building) to billboards on the side of the freeway. It covers movie trailers I seek out ant watch to see what's coming soon to comm…
You're right. Advertising is just a symptom of the root problem, capitalism.
"Attention is currency in the marketplace of ideas" as they say. If everyone is supposed to vote with their dollar, you need to make them vote for you. The easiest way to do that is by fighting for your attention.
I don't agree. The internet definitely did not exist in any form that would be today seen as sufficient ever before. The sheer scale makes it impossible, advertising is the only way poor people could afford it and pay for it without paying money at the same time (so the developer now has a new option too). The options these companies that exist thanks to ads gave to all businesses in my country are enormous and have…
There is other ways to see ads. The companies don't pay money for advertising, they pay to make poor people buy things they don't need. If they would pay the site owner directly, maybe they would not be as poor?
I doubt it. One of the interesting things about the ad funded internet is that it is effectively progressive. Rich people have more money to spend which makes their clicks more valuable which means the revenue made by ad funded companies comes disproportionately from the rich and yet poor and rich get to use the same exact internet despite the fact the it is mostly paid for by the rich.
I'm sad a lot of the top tier newspapers in America are starting to enforce their paywalls now because we are back to the state where only richer people can afford high quality news.
> Advertising is a scourge upon society. I understand where you're coming from, but that's painting with a pretty broad brush. Advertising covers everything from the signage stating the name of the mom-and-pop shop on the corner (which is why cities often limit the size of logos/names on building) to billboards on the side of the freeway. It covers movie trailers I seek out ant watch to see what's coming soon to comm…
You're right. Advertising is just a symptom of the root problem, capitalism. "Attention is currency in the marketplace of ideas" as they say. If everyone is supposed to vote with their dollar, you need to make them vote for you. The easiest way to do that is by fighting for your attention.
More like, capitalism is just a symptom of the root "problem" that humans are fundamentally self-interested
"Aniview denies any involvement and instead says the platform and banner ads and code, which were created by one of its subsidiaries, were exploited by a malicious, unnamed third party."
It is interesting how this article starts. A guy has an app which drains users batteries. But it's not his fault of course, because it's the ad company. Except the ad company says it's not their fault, because the ad came from some other company. This fingerpointing points to one of the core problems of the ad industry: They created a system where nobody knows who's responsible for anything, so malware and fraud has…
Yeah, many supposedly legit websites (even large media companies) run these very scammy "man from YOUR LOCATION got rich in 20 days!" "one weird trick to get younger" ads that ultimately lead to some scam But if you ask them, it's not their fault, but the ad company (Google), which in turn will point to a different company, etc And in the end, people are scammed and Google gets a bit richer, but it's nobody's fault o…
Even responsible journalistic websites like Der Spiegel (insert comment about Relotius here) run ads like these, where the ads appear like "related articles" underneath serious articles...
It is interesting how this article starts. A guy has an app which drains users batteries. But it's not his fault of course, because it's the ad company. Except the ad company says it's not their fault, because the ad came from some other company. This fingerpointing points to one of the core problems of the ad industry: They created a system where nobody knows who's responsible for anything, so malware and fraud has…
This isn't specific to ads. It's a problem either supply chain in every industry. It's why your clothes are made in dangerous sweatshops, why your electronics are made by dumping toxic chemicals in rivers, and why your chocolate is farmed by child slaves.
A’s Banksy said: > ...They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they…
So no different than leering self interested political posturing masquerading as altruistic innocuity
There's a difference between consuming products that are funded by ads, where you can just it out of the product, and add that pollute public space.