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ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

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Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#71

Post by seizethecheese »

Anon1096 wrote: post #65

HN isn't really a good place to have an informed discussion on ads efficacy unfortunately. In this thread we have many many people talking about how online ads in general are completely worthless. All of the top comments I see are harping on things like Google Ads having bad targeting for reasons like you are getting recommendations on products you just bought (having experience in the ads industry, yes this is actua…

Regarding showing ads for something you just bought, I’ve always assumed the principle here is that because conversion is extremely unlikely for a given ad, the super unlikely case you’ll buy something twice is actually more likely than a random other thing.

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#72

Post by Zambyte »

nitwit005 wrote: post #52
Zambyte wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advertisements don't need to be clicked to work. Billboards clearly work for reasons other than being clicked.

If you asked me to name the companies on the billboards that line the highway I commute on, I couldn't do it. I don't think any single form of advertising is effective on the whole population.

If you saw a product from a brand on a billboard on your commute, and a product from a brand you've never seen before, you'd probably be able to pick which one you've never seen before.

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#73

Post by Zambyte »

bigyabai wrote: post #34
Zambyte wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Local advertisements can be nice. The advertisement section in the local newspaper was a thing people used to actually seek out, once upon a time. The real problem is the scaling of advertisement frameworks globally and algorithmically serving individuals or certain groups. It is strictly parasitic at that level.

If "can be nice" is the bar of quality we hold ads to, then all advertisement passes the bar. A lot of newspaper ads were for luxury tchotchkes, cigarettes, booze or gambling. Back then, advertisements had some pretty substantial downsides, normalizing entire swathes of behavior that is today considered unhealthy and exploitative. At most, I would call advertisement a Tragedy of the Commons. But the way publicity wor…

> If "can be nice" is the bar of quality we hold ads to, then all advertisement passes the bar.

No. I literally never want to see an advertisement on my computer, unless I'm visiting a local forum with local advertisements. If I want to see a product or service online, I will search for it using my search engine that does not accept payment for search rankings.

Global, digital advertising is clearly a different class of advertising than local advertisements.

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#75

Post by iamnothere »

snailmailman wrote: post #53

Is there any ad targeting that is good? The main place I see ads is YouTube on iOS. I used to have ad targeting turned off, but I’ve since opted into all of googles tracking and ad-targeting, in attempt to curate the ads I see and improve them. I’ve had all the Google tracking and ad-targeting turned on for close to a year now. Google still can’t even target me ads that are in English. I can’t read Chinese or Turkish…

Do you have a smart TV or other device that might be selling your bandwidth as a residential proxy?

I get mostly mistargeted ads, but I’ve put a lot of effort into it.

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#76

Post by nikole9696 »

hermitcrab wrote: post #54
demibabs wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes (I especially notice this on the App Store, but sometimes Google), companies bid on their own name. So you'll search something like "Discord" and the first result will be an ad for Discord, and then below is the organic results which has them first anyways.

I have bid in Google Adwords on my own product name. If you don't, then a competitor else might, and then they will appear above you in search. It isn't nice, but that is the way it is.

I have wondered why this happens for awhile now. I had no idea - I feel like if a product name matches exactly what I searched for, no ad should ever be ABOVE that match. It makes me a tad angry you guys have to pay to get this behavior.

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#77

Post by hermitcrab »

nikole9696 wrote: post #76
hermitcrab wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have bid in Google Adwords on my own product name. If you don't, then a competitor else might, and then they will appear above you in search. It isn't nice, but that is the way it is.

I have wondered why this happens for awhile now. I had no idea - I feel like if a product name matches exactly what I searched for, no ad should ever be ABOVE that match. It makes me a tad angry you guys have to pay to get this behavior.

>I feel like if a product name matches exactly what I searched for, no ad should ever be ABOVE that match.

It must be lovely to be that innocent. ;0)

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#78

Post by nikole9696 »

beezlebroxxxxxx wrote: post #27
nikole9696 wrote: post #12

I have no idea why anyone would click on any ad anywhere other than by accident, not knowing if the link might take them to some malware site these days.

I would never click on the weird ads that the supposedly "brightest minds of our generation" have delivered to me via some nonsensical middleman auction system. But I go to some blogs (philosophy, jazz, and men's clothing) that have ads that are literally just image links. The ads are actually relevant to the content, and because I go to the blog of my own volition, that means that more often than not the ads are at…

I agree, before the age of enshittification, when I went to actual blogs, sometimes I did see ads worth my time. But these days most blogs I would visit are hosted on sites that just use ad farms, and the targeting is awful (which, hey, I am on my apple devices most of the time and I disable all tracking) but mostly I would never feel confident that clicking the ad wouldn't bring me to some spyware infested hole. I am far more leery of where I would go when I click it than I am concerned that I'm not the target demographic.

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#79

Post by necovek »

WarmWash wrote: post #57
necovek wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before Google, before Reddit, before Facebook, people all over the world, rich and poor, run their own sites and their own forums, allowing them to chat with people throughout the world. Here in Serbia, even in the worst of times (sanctions, NATO bombing in 1999), people with internet access could participate in local and global fora, newsgroups etc. It was expensive to get a computer and internet access, but people…

The cultural internet blip of the 90's/early 00's is never coming back. Its not a framework for a free open internet, it's an anomaly that was born from a convergence of factors that was short lived before the masses showed up. A wonderful thing to be a part of, no question I get warm fuzzies thinking about it now, but I recognize what it was. It's akin to dreaming of that time you caught Coldplay play a small london…

No disagreement there, but I do disagree that on the internet, poor and rich would not intermingle without the big tech players: they already have, and even if not for them, they would have continued.

I am not reminiscing anything here, but I do believe this counterpoint does disprove the claim to the contrary :)

Re: ChatGPT ad targeting is garbage

#80

Post by danny_codes »

imperio59 wrote: post #24
ryanmcbride wrote: post #13

Everything with ads is garbage. All the time. It poses no benefit to humanity even a little bit.

The clear mark of someone who's never owned a business and had to find customers to sell their product.

Why don’t your customers find you? Assuming you have what they want.

I suppose depends how broadly “ad” is taken to be. Is a webpage an ad? Presumably no if it’s your landing page.

OP is presumably talking about invasive ads that try to take the attention of people who aren’t looking for the product in question

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