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Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

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Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#11

Post by archangel_one »

Too many negative experiences with overeager matching algorithms. Yes, it's helpful to show me ads for spades if I'm searching on Google for "buy spade", but Amazon will not stop suggesting things to me that it thinks I "might" be interested in. They seem surprisingly bad at it too; I looked at a TV costing around £500, and subsequently got an e-mail every few days containing a list of their entire stock of TVs, without any consideration of price. If I'm looking at one worth £500, I'm probably not interested in a TV that costs £150 or one that costs £1500. They do badly on ebooks too, where the recommendations just seem to be "other books by the same authors you've already bought from", which I barely need; what I'd like are suggestions of similar books from other authors that I don't know about yet.

I feel like I don't mind seeing ads that I'm interested in, but there is a difference between that and being shown hundreds of ads that I might be interested in. I guess a sufficiently smart recommendation algorithm could theoretically overcome that eventually, but it seems to be a pretty hard problem since it's apparently not been well solved yet.

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#12

Post by junto »

Personally, I'd just be happy to see adverts in the right language.

Every major online advertising engine appears to assume that my geolocation equates to my preferred language.

My browser passes the Accept-Language request header of en-GB, but they all ignore it and give me adverts in German or Spanish (or where ever I happen to be visiting or living) based on an IP-to-geolocation lookup.

What I find interesting is that it firstly makes me actively aggressive towards the brands, as well as the site. Secondly, it increases my advertising blindness.

I see this on Google Adsense and Facebook ads.

I assume that in the United States, Spanish speakers are equally ignored? Any Spanish speakers in the US that can confirm this?

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#14

Post by Jacqued »

I think one of the main reasons is that targeted ads tend to show products you already know (whether you already own them, researched them, or just because you are interested in the subject). Then visual recognition (picture or name of the product) occurs and your focus shifts to the ad for a moment --- when you can just unconsciously ignore just 97-98% of the ads you see on the Internet or on the street. And we all know how annoying commercial crap can be when you are not looking to buy anything

Another thing that applies to older generations and educated people among younger ones (I don't think the young masses understand this or care about it) is the privacy invasion argument.

I'll add that, since most people hate ads altogether, adding just a little annoyance to them can seem like just pushing it too far. I think the only places where ads are not hated are subway stations, since waiting in gloomy underground tunnels (most of those in Paris are, anyway) can be a bit depressing

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#15

Post by pbhjpbhj »

jasonkester wrote: post #5

My only real complaint with those ads that follow you around the internet is that they're nearly always trying to sell you something you already own. I bought one of those GoPro cameras that you mount on your surfboard a while back, and was punished with six months of nonstop ads telling me how awesome my life would be if only I'd purchase a GoPro camera. It was annoying to the point where I actually dropped down tha…

>an option for "OK, I bought it already. Please stop now." //

That would be incredibly useful info for the advertising network - you'd be able to chose to advertise to people who already own a particular product. That must be high value (for sellers, advert networks) and probably provides good targetting for those who find that a benefit.

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#16

Post by digitalengineer »

theoutlander wrote: post #2

Embracing targeted ads requires a mind shift that the per-Facebook generation will not be able to conceive. Most people worried about targeted ads are merely riding the ill-fated privacy bandwagon without weighing the pros and cons of such a system. The future generations will prefer targeted ads.

I think not. The TARGET case in Forbes ("How Target Figured Out A Teen Girl Was Pregnant Before Her Father Did") suggests it is best if targeted ads are surrounded by random ones to stop people from creeping out. More here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-targe...

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#17

Post by JacobAldridge »

junto wrote: post #12

Personally, I'd just be happy to see adverts in the right language. Every major online advertising engine appears to assume that my geolocation equates to my preferred language. My browser passes the Accept-Language request header of en-GB, but they all ignore it and give me adverts in German or Spanish (or where ever I happen to be visiting or living) based on an IP-to-geolocation lookup. What I find interesting is…

I wonder if that's to do with the advertising network / provider placing the ads using geolocation, rather than language requests. I'm an Australian expat living in London - when I visit Australian news sites now they deliver me UK advertisements.

Thankfully, no language issues in my instance.

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#18

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

jasonkester wrote: post #5

My only real complaint with those ads that follow you around the internet is that they're nearly always trying to sell you something you already own. I bought one of those GoPro cameras that you mount on your surfboard a while back, and was punished with six months of nonstop ads telling me how awesome my life would be if only I'd purchase a GoPro camera. It was annoying to the point where I actually dropped down tha…

I like Amazon's "you bought a SatNav, perhaps you'd be interested in these other 8 SatNavs"...

Possibly the answer is that the algorithms aren't close to good enough. That "might be interested in" isn't good enough.

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#19

Post by jrabone »

robinjfisher wrote: post #6
jasonkester wrote: post #5

My only real complaint with those ads that follow you around the internet is that they're nearly always trying to sell you something you already own. I bought one of those GoPro cameras that you mount on your surfboard a while back, and was punished with six months of nonstop ads telling me how awesome my life would be if only I'd purchase a GoPro camera. It was annoying to the point where I actually dropped down tha…

Agreed. At the moment, I'm frequently seeing ads for Chargify (already a customer) and Indochino (I buy suits infrequently and have in fact just bought from them). My main issue with Amazon is it recommending items connected to presents I bought for other people. My brother is a keen photographer so I have purchased memory cards etc. from Amazon but I now keep receiving recommendations for lenses/cases.

You can say "Don't use this purchase for recommendations" and "Not interested / already own it" on Amazon. It's clearly not well-exposed, given the number of people making your complaint.

Re: Why don't users want to see adverts they might be interested in?

#20

Post by jeffool »

For the longest time I avidly clicked answering Hulu's "Is this relevant to you?" question that came with ads.

After a few months, I began to suspect they were not using the results. They never learned I didn't want a new car, for starters. Not the kind of purchase a commercial is going to change my mind about. (And I can't even recall the brand.)

I'd actually like a decent as network just fine.

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