The ad-based internet is dying, and it's getting worse in the process [video]

Most of the ad-driven social media site drove me far away, a long time ago. Reddit was the most recent and last, I'm never going to join another ad-drive social media platform again. I'm strictly on Mastodon, Lemmy and, for now, HN (I think lemmy might replace it). I've only been seriously using the fedivers stuff for about a week, I can feel a _major_ difference. I'm already trying to figure out exactly where I should start funneling my "Patreon budget" to be most effective at helping keep it's spirit alive.

Ad-driven media platforms have mostly gotten me to buy into the ad-free tier. YouTube being the most expensive and, by far, most used. The family plan is, I think, 22 a month and it's the last subscription I'd ever end. The channels I really like, I join the Patreon. I know YouTube has something similar now but I will never use it. That separation of paid subscribers from the platform the content creator currently uses to post, I think, is really, really important. Sacred even. I think, for example, the Breaking Points business model is something every channel should strive for. Channels structured in a similar manor tend to make incredible content. Even when they opt for sponsor ads, they're usually very tasteful about it. It doesn't bother me a bit to pay something and still get an ad like that.

Most of the movie/show streaming platforms just have me on that line of "doesn't cost much but they don't really have anything I like at the moment". When things get tight, they're the first to get cancelled.

I've found a better internet over the past year or so. It's nice again. I'm sure the majority of people aren't seeing it, but it's kind of back to how it used to be, if you try.

You can blame companies like outbrain and taboola for purposefully having horrible advertiser quality standards, and websites who are willing to have that junk on their site. The cycle repeats endlessly, as the horrible sites have.. horrible ads.

I thought the whole idea behind Reddit and other sites was to keep people browsing with algorithms that keep them interested. Wouldn't that be what makes them efficient?

There are really only 3 buyers of banner/display ads when no targeting is available:

1) Huge multinationals - think geico, coke, etc. Broad awareness campaigns

2) Scams, body horror, YMYL, click-trick, etc. This is what you're seeing. Info products, garbage cosmetics and scam courses have such huge margins that they can spend on broad-targeted placements for very cheap CPMs, with aggressive creatives that are A/B tested to death to get people to click. As long as the CPM is cheap, and the CTRs are high enough, the numbers work.

3) "Inexperienced" ad buyers

I'm not commenting or interested in debating the ethics of tracking and the internet data economy, but a side effect of removing 3rd party targeting is that as attribution goes away, buyers of ads pay less since they can't attribute dollars to campaigns, so you have to move to attribution methods more common in radio and TV. And as costs fall, it gives opportunities to the slimey shit you've been seeing.