Just to note, I subconsciously skipped over the examples in the article as if they were ads -- then wondered what he was talking about for a few seconds afterward. Must be my years of kung foo internet training.
The Internet Made Me Sad Today
131–140 of 186 posts
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
really, how? Advertising is not traditionally sold on a self-service basis. It is traditionally sold via Big Enterprise Sales processes, caricatured above as "steak dinners between advertising sales and ad buyers at big brands." This is enormously big business: ever bus ad, every TV ad, most newspaper ads, etc that you've ever seen was sold this way. Google is the alternative model for advertising, and (as such) is o…
...Google is primarily an advertising company which makes excellent use of technology, not a technology company which makes good use of advertising. I absolutely agree with that, and don't really see anything controversial in that statement. I also think that Google has created more value for more people than probably any other company in history. If they are in fact an advertising company (which we agree) then the v…
"then the value they have created has been extracted from more people than probably any other company in history."
take a basic economics course. it's not a zero sum game.
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#133You're looking at remnant inventory. Inventory (advertiser speak for "a page view plus a slot available on that page which we could sell an ad against") are a lot like cuts of meat. Some are worth a lot of money. Some are not, and end up getting sold to be turned into fertilizer or paste to infect cows with all matter of diseases. Things that tend to make inventory worth more money: 1) Better matching algorithms. Thi…
Can you please write a book? Thx.
Seconded.
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
None, whatsoever. But what alternative do the "best and the brightest" have? After all, in order to keep being "the best and the brightest" they do need to pay rent (and have an occasional steak dinner). What value is there in educating if one can simply purchase social capital when one needs it? Exhibit A: http://www.facebook.com/BPTeamUSA Exhibit B: http://www.altria.com/en/cms/Responsibility/investing-in-com...
> "After all, in order to keep being "the best and the brightest" they do need to pay rent (and have an occasional steak dinner)." Plenty of people pay rent and eat well and aren't complicit in scams and get-rich-quick schemes. Plenty of people have jobs that pay well and don't pander to the lowest common denominator and reinforce ignorance...
If you think I'm advocating pandering to the lowest common denominator and reinforcing ignorance, you are mistaken.
I am pointing out the fact that within a system of social organization which allows "material capital" to be easily convertible to "social capital" this type of behavior will always exist. Moreover, in most cases it will be a superior social/business strategy.
Consider a hypothetical example. Evil Company X can do a "socially harmful" thing Y and make Z dollars or a "socially beneficial" thing W and make V dollars. Well, if Z - [the cost of whitewashing] > V, why not do it?
Furthermore, should the CEO of ECX opt to do V and forego greater profits, investors of X would be well-justified to vote for his removal at the subsequent board meeting. After all, the CEO was not representing THEIR best interests...
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#135The look and feel of the ad is publisher's responsibility. Can't blame Google for that. Rest, Google gets the blame. Before I get down to that, however, I would be suspicious of the veracity of a publisher who tries to blend the ad and the content so closely.
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, government policy has a huge effect, for one it created the nation of chain smokers. What Google does is monetize the products of our school system, the school system produces mindless consumers incapable of producing on their own. Google connects these dependents of the state to the people who can produce the goods they need to live. If you want to change what Google promotes simply transform the school system…
I'm in favor of a lot of ways to fix this problem. What I cannot abide is the whole "people are stupid and want stupid things, I'm just fulfilling their stupid demands" excuse. What hope does this world have when its best and brightest are content with swindling money out of the ill-informed?
I find this really interesting. The term "ill-informed" is often used as a dramatic simplification for "someone who has different views than I do" or "someone who makes poor choices".
Here: I'm a smoker. Do I know that smoking is terrible for me? Yes, absolutely. Is there any possible way to make a case that I'm "ill-informed" about the effects of tobacco? Not at all. And yet, I live with the fact that, every day, I choose to smoke tobacco. Yes, I'm addicted to it, and yes, I'm going to quit smoking it (because I know it's terrible for me), but... I'm not quitting today :)
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#137This viewpoint as raganwald expressed it is too oversimplifying for my tastes. It's pretty .. well, wrong.. to say that all Google engineers are working on is putting ads on web pages. Similarly it's not true that a whole generation of people are working on ads. Google is working on a tremendous number of things -- as is the rest of this industry. It boggles the mind. I do; however, agree with the generalization of h…
I think you don't fully remember how different 2000 is from today.
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
I see that I somehow have made the entirely wrong point. I didn’t say that it’s sad that I have to wade through ads. As it happens, I have this “reader” thingie in Safari, which solves the ad problem and the readability problem in one click or keypress. The thing I was trying to say that makes me sad is that there is a generation of smart people toiling away with the power of what may be the world’s biggest computing…
So.. you're sad because of the Ad industry, when there's A LOT more money in the military industry being thrown away? I mean, if you want to be sad about something, choose your argument subject more carefully..
These aren't mutually exclusive things, and his argument could be extended to the military industry as well. It's just a reflection on his part based on an experience he had.
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#139You're looking at remnant inventory. Inventory (advertiser speak for "a page view plus a slot available on that page which we could sell an ad against") are a lot like cuts of meat. Some are worth a lot of money. Some are not, and end up getting sold to be turned into fertilizer or paste to infect cows with all matter of diseases. Things that tend to make inventory worth more money: 1) Better matching algorithms. Thi…
An important addition to your list of items that makes inventory more valuable:
2B) Purchasing intent for a commodity item where the inventory seller can extract a high percentage of the profit.
Apple isn't going to bid up the price of an ad that erodes their profit too much because, at the end of the day, they're the only source of iPhones.
Your local florist will compete against the guy across the street to buy that add even if nearly all the profit goes away because he can't easily differentiate his product.
Re: The Internet Made Me Sad Today
#140I'm actually looking forward to the day when micro-transactions become easy and friction-less and we move onto paywalls. I'd love to support sites with content by paying $0.02 per article. I hate seeing ads, and I hate my websites relying on ads for revenue. My parents have many times clicked on ads accidentally thinking it was the content they want. The last thing I need to is to clear out their laptop from endless…
Seriously: like throwing some coins in the guitar box of the musician you hear in the subway whose melody really sets your mood straight for the day!