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The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

andrewchen.com

51–60 of 63 posts

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#51

I sometimes think, that marketing is one of the worst thing that happened to us. It is constantly destroying all things that worked really well for us. There were times when checking my mailbox (I mean physical one) was either important - taxes, administration, bills or fun - postcards from family and friends. Now it’s 99% spam. It’s not worth checking. Email - the same. Mostly spam and shitty newsletters that will '…

To take the counter argument. Modern technology has enabled me to avoid advertising bullshit. I live in a world devoid of ads. In the 1990s, I used to watch TV and there were lots of ads. Now I have Netflix and the ad blocker takes care of YouTube. There were magazines and newspapers you had to buy but were full of ads. Now it’s free and the adblocker takes care of the ads. Radio ads. Now podcast where you can fastfo…

I don't think you have avoided it completely. Advertising is everywhere you look. Even in Netflix you still see brands in TV shows.

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#52
post #3

Marketers are now busy ruining web search with blog spam and podcasts with sponsored content.

As well as endless newsletter signups in a century where nobody checks their email.

The newsletter signup is the modern version of "please bookmark this site". Another thing people don't really do anymore.

It's really sad too, because these sites know that you clicked on them from a sea of similar looking results, and this signup form is the only way you're likely to even remember their existence.

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#53
post #22
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Click on random shit to cost the advertisers money lowering their roi and ruin the analytics at the same time The profile on you in various advertising scumbags databases will eventually be so inaccurate it will be worth the cost to store in a rust platter Over indulge the scummy advertisers. Cost them as much money as possible for worthless clicks. They crossed so many lines over the last couple of decades people sh…

By clicking random ads you may be actually encouraging publishers to keep deploying them?

Short-term, certainly. Long-term - negative ROI's would drive away the real customers, who are paying for those ads.

Or at least that's the "Optimism set to 11" plan.

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really believe that ? The first killer app of AR glasses will be ads in places where we couldn't have ads before. Your neighbor's lawn ? Ad space. The sky ? Ad space. Whirlpool in a toilet ? Ad space.

This sounds about right. Imagine waking up, putting on your glasses and looking into the autumn morning sun, dawn. The rays break into golden lines of light. As the sun rises further, a capri sun ad. You sigh and fall back into you bed and stare at the ceiling, another ad taking advantage of the plainess. Be less Boring- Virgin Galactic. Its sounds like dystopia but future generations will be collecting banner ads as…

This will work because the goggles and associated services are freely given away. Who would spend so much of their own money when they can have it for free with ads? /sarcasm

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#55
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By clicking random ads you may be actually encouraging publishers to keep deploying them?

Short-term, certainly. Long-term - negative ROI's would drive away the real customers, who are paying for those ads. Or at least that's the "Optimism set to 11" plan.

Evil plan: Create a network distributed system (kind of like Seti@Home) specifically for doing this. If there was enough participation to make a difference the advertisers would have to invest in countermeasures which could lead to an arms-race that ultimately erodes all profit from it.

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#56

I sometimes think, that marketing is one of the worst thing that happened to us. It is constantly destroying all things that worked really well for us. There were times when checking my mailbox (I mean physical one) was either important - taxes, administration, bills or fun - postcards from family and friends. Now it’s 99% spam. It’s not worth checking. Email - the same. Mostly spam and shitty newsletters that will '…

To take the counter argument. Modern technology has enabled me to avoid advertising bullshit. I live in a world devoid of ads. In the 1990s, I used to watch TV and there were lots of ads. Now I have Netflix and the ad blocker takes care of YouTube. There were magazines and newspapers you had to buy but were full of ads. Now it’s free and the adblocker takes care of the ads. Radio ads. Now podcast where you can fastfo…

And hopefully the blockers will continue to work, as long as your browser vendor, mobile phone vendor, etc, don't change the APIs to prevent or make it infeasible to do it.

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#57
post #3

Marketers are now busy ruining web search with blog spam and podcasts with sponsored content.

As well as endless newsletter signups in a century where nobody checks their email.

I check my email, and it's great, because I _curate_ it. Absurd spam like scams goes to junk anyway. The more legitimate spam I quickly unsubscribe from. And I make sure no service keeps sending notifications I don't need. This way only valuable content ends up in the inbox – interesting newsletters, updates from companies I give a damn about, important notifications, and any personal stuff. Wholly recommended experience, just requires caring about good content.

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#58

I sometimes think, that marketing is one of the worst thing that happened to us. It is constantly destroying all things that worked really well for us. There were times when checking my mailbox (I mean physical one) was either important - taxes, administration, bills or fun - postcards from family and friends. Now it’s 99% spam. It’s not worth checking. Email - the same. Mostly spam and shitty newsletters that will '…

To take the counter argument. Modern technology has enabled me to avoid advertising bullshit. I live in a world devoid of ads. In the 1990s, I used to watch TV and there were lots of ads. Now I have Netflix and the ad blocker takes care of YouTube. There were magazines and newspapers you had to buy but were full of ads. Now it’s free and the adblocker takes care of the ads. Radio ads. Now podcast where you can fastfo…

> magazines and newspapers you had to buy but were full of ads

Computer magazines (and computer/video game magazines) had pretty good ads. They're still fun to read today.

I still miss the Fry's Electronics ad sections in newspapers.

A few years ago at least, print magazines still seemed to be alive in the UK, perhaps in part because they were often sold by newsagents.

Re: The Law of Shitty Clickthroughs (2012)

#59

I sometimes think, that marketing is one of the worst thing that happened to us. It is constantly destroying all things that worked really well for us. There were times when checking my mailbox (I mean physical one) was either important - taxes, administration, bills or fun - postcards from family and friends. Now it’s 99% spam. It’s not worth checking. Email - the same. Mostly spam and shitty newsletters that will '…

I completely agree with you, but this is a straight up ancient problem, and if you don't believe me, you can ask Scaurus, maker of the best gaurum in Pompeii. The "get crowd's attention and monetize it" strategy has been around since the invention of begging. It's a fundamental strategy in any large group of people. The bigger the crowd, the better it is as a strategy. Sure, social psychologists and marketers are out…

Thank you for the unique perspective!
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