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We need legal controls on web advertising

theregister.com

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Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#11

Post by tjpnz »

jakubp wrote: post #3
notRobot wrote: post #2

I wonder, how would the world be different if a major government was to completely ban user tracking? Ad companies would be forced to use contextual advertising. How would that play out?

I had a different idea, which was that governments of the future could ban advertising altogether. I know it's a... stretch, but imagine this: - you can't put billboards in the city - you can't place any images, text, etc. banners anywhere (except for tightly controlled, single-design descriptions of businesses in buildings, decided by each municipality like it's already done in some cities to maintain consistent loo…

If enough people abandon cities I could see this happening. Imagine how much it would cost to engage a marketing company to put your BS "message" onto a billboard and have enough people see it. Imagine too all of the added compliance costs that would come with having to deal with dozens of small municipalities, each with their own quirky laws.

Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#12

Post by jakubp »

notRobot wrote: post #6
jakubp wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a different idea, which was that governments of the future could ban advertising altogether. I know it's a... stretch, but imagine this: - you can't put billboards in the city - you can't place any images, text, etc. banners anywhere (except for tightly controlled, single-design descriptions of businesses in buildings, decided by each municipality like it's already done in some cities to maintain consistent loo…

There have been cities that have banned all forms of outdoor advertising (such as billboards)! Here's some links you might like: https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secret... https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/adblocking-the-globa... https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/aug/11/can-cities-ki... A gallary of Tokyo stripped of advertising: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2015/aug/12/…

Wow, I never knew, thank you. These pictures look lovely, now in space like this one might actually focus :)

Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#13

Post by jakubp »

tomjen3 wrote: post #9
jakubp wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a different idea, which was that governments of the future could ban advertising altogether. I know it's a... stretch, but imagine this: - you can't put billboards in the city - you can't place any images, text, etc. banners anywhere (except for tightly controlled, single-design descriptions of businesses in buildings, decided by each municipality like it's already done in some cities to maintain consistent loo…

You would end up stalling the development of new products. I can't invent and sell an 800 usd massage chair if people assume they cost 5000 usd and so don't even go looking for them. I can't start a "we are cheaper than wallmart" discount business without advertising this fact. You need advertisements, or something like that, to encourage new products and price competition. You do not need tracking for any reason sin…

Yes, it would stall development of a lot of business. Many of these businesses are not necessary. Humans would start a different path of looking for what's actually useful rather than falling for what's out there -- or at least that's the dream :)

[edit] Onto your second point, that you need ads to promote price competition, I don't think so. There's almost no advertisement in many kinds of services like e.g. hair salons, but they still very much compete (price included). Also, huge majority of professional trainers do not advertise anywhere in my area, and yet we all compete on price and our customers know the range of prices that are reasonable. So information about price etc. flows quite well regardless of ads.

Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#14

Post by h1fra »

It always bother me that ads on tv/paper/radio are highly controlled, regulated (at least in France), with maximum time and restricted content. But ads in internet are just wild! You can have 1 minute of ads for less than 10 minutes of content, plus all the banners, sponsored content etc...

I wish the Europe would regulate this and impose a maximum exposition time for ads, like we have for tv. (e.g: in France 6-9 minutes per hour in average)

Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#15

Post by Cthulhu_ »

h1fra wrote: post #14

It always bother me that ads on tv/paper/radio are highly controlled, regulated (at least in France), with maximum time and restricted content. But ads in internet are just wild! You can have 1 minute of ads for less than 10 minutes of content, plus all the banners, sponsored content etc... I wish the Europe would regulate this and impose a maximum exposition time for ads, like we have for tv. (e.g: in France 6-9 min…

I believe (but don't quote me on this) that the existing laws SHOULD also apply to online ads, but for some restrictions maybe. It may take a lawsuit for e.g. youtube to start following these restrictions.

Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#16

Post by FriedrichN »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #15
h1fra wrote: post #14

It always bother me that ads on tv/paper/radio are highly controlled, regulated (at least in France), with maximum time and restricted content. But ads in internet are just wild! You can have 1 minute of ads for less than 10 minutes of content, plus all the banners, sponsored content etc... I wish the Europe would regulate this and impose a maximum exposition time for ads, like we have for tv. (e.g: in France 6-9 min…

I believe (but don't quote me on this) that the existing laws SHOULD also apply to online ads, but for some restrictions maybe. It may take a lawsuit for e.g. youtube to start following these restrictions.

IANAL but that's usually not the case for most European countries, these guidelines are mostly specific to radio and TV.

Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#17

Post by BlueTemplar »

> why no home router makers have put ad and track filtering in their products is slightly mystifying

French ISP "Free" used to vocally advertise their router ad blocker (consumer interest). They also vocally claimed to be the underdog and fought YouTube then Netflix (huge data volume interconnections are expensive). If I'm not mistaken, in all the 3 cases they ended up "settling"

Re: We need legal controls on web advertising

#19

Post by Blikkentrekker »

tomjen3 wrote: post #9
jakubp wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a different idea, which was that governments of the future could ban advertising altogether. I know it's a... stretch, but imagine this: - you can't put billboards in the city - you can't place any images, text, etc. banners anywhere (except for tightly controlled, single-design descriptions of businesses in buildings, decided by each municipality like it's already done in some cities to maintain consistent loo…

You would end up stalling the development of new products. I can't invent and sell an 800 usd massage chair if people assume they cost 5000 usd and so don't even go looking for them. I can't start a "we are cheaper than wallmart" discount business without advertising this fact. You need advertisements, or something like that, to encourage new products and price competition. You do not need tracking for any reason sin…

There is plenty of price comparison websites that one can use right now that allow one to search for a specific product and compare price offers.

One would search for a massage chair on there and find that some are cheaper than others and read the reviews to make an educated guess about whether the extra price is worth it.

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