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I left the ad industry because of data tracking

fastcompany.com

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Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#141

Post by millzlane »

everdrive wrote: post #125
somatic wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure they are: they’re all things which normal people wouldn’t do to other people, and in which the perpetrators weren’t punished. And by “normal people wouldn’t do to other people”, I mean “stark raving mad”.

I'm going to keep getting downvoted here, but it seems like people collect a bulleted list of spooky and bad things a government has done, and imply a meaningful connection via the act of simply listing the events together. So, in our same list we have: - A Cuban false flag operation with military intent. - A CIA Mind Control experiment which is implied to be widespread, but documents don't actually support this. Tor…

The idea is that all these things are related in their goal in to trying to control people either by using force or coercion. They were all done using the Mechanism of US gov. They also weren't prosecuted for their crimes.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#142

Post by DailyHN »

geggam wrote: post #136
DailyHN wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who never uses any blockers, what's the benefit to you? I imagine you have some role in building the internet since you're on HN. As far as I'm aware, by not blocking ads I am experiencing the internet that the majority of people also experience. And I think that's how I can better understand the people I build things for. Maybe if more tech workers took off their tin-foil ad-blocking hats then the ad indu…

I used to work for an ad company, ad blockers really dont stop the tracking. They just make the internet usable :)

Can you better explain this usability?

When a site is littered with ads, the content probably sucks, too.

Could the ads make the internet more usable? For example, they help evaluate the content before reading it and leading one to find better quality content sooner.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#143

Post by kazagistar »

nerdponx wrote: post #48
cik2e wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no demand for personal data or de-anonymization because that stuff doesn't sell. Say what?? I’ve also worked in the ad industry and deanonymized personal data is shared and sold routinely . You speak of statistics and large segments but every advertiser I’ve interacted with is either doing individual-level targeting or striving towards it.

To wit, A few weeks ago there was a discussion here about a method by which you could figure out how fast a browser/machine could compute an SHA 512 hash, and that this was being used to fingerprint users even who had cookies, images, JavaScript disabled.

Hence why technical solutions have been and always will be the wrong approach. If you are worried about privacy, then work to make tracking illegal. That's what this article is doing.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#144

Post by YUMad »

heer4it wrote: post #120
YUMad wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is weird that he comments on that, and not that it's become the most advertised interracial coupling even tho IRL it's the 2nd least common interracial coupling? Or are you just trying to ad-hominem him?

It's weird that he (and you) comment on that because if someone is extremely concerned about the media promoting miscegenation, that's usually a good proxy for them being a racist cretin.

So just the good old ad hominem then?

I simply pointed out a fact: there is a significant discrepancy between the rate of black male + white female couplings IRL and in the media. I am bringing no judgement on it.

Considering how frothy at the mouth you got over this fact being mentioned, you are no better than those 'racist cretins' you try to insinuate I am part of.

Do you actually have any valid arguments to dispute the claim, or only the attempts at shaming ad-hominems to try and suppress that claim?

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#145

Post by [deleted] »

2Ccltvcm wrote: post #52

Hedge funds and intelligence agencies are fingerprinting all groups within our society by monitoring the responses of various target audiences to engineered stimuli. This comes in the form of observing the response to selective dissemination of content with a known effect on observers (you). A few years ago we heard about some outrage nobody did anything about when it became clear Facebook was manipulating reader emo…

[deleted]

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#146

Post by 55555 »

jccalhoun wrote: post #40

What are they doing with all this data tracking because it sure isn't giving me relevant ads. In addition to the often noted situation where you buy something online and then get ads for that thing you already bought, I routinely see totally irrelevant ads and recommendations. I've been on Facebook since around 2003. I've had an Amazon account for even longer. Their ads and recommendations for me are terrible. Two re…

Facebook makes the data available to advertisers who are then responsible for targeting you well based on that data. If the advertiser makes terrible targeting decisions but offers a high bid for a click, then despite your low CTR and low conversion rate, you'll see the ad. Facebook is not choosing which ads you see. (The recommendations, sure.)

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#147

Post by kazagistar »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #84
Aromasin wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

F-ing wonderful. Almost reaffirming the inevitability of it all really. Back to uBlock it is. Thanks for the heads up.

Not ublock, you need to use ublock origin.

How about AdNausium for the extra middle finger.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#148

Post by krapp »

trophycase wrote: post #140
orbat wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"strong healthy black man rescues white woman from a bumbling and pathetic white male." Yeah, that… really doesn't sound as common a theme as you imply

Maybe not the black male part. But the "competent woman" and "bumbling helpless male" is an extremely common TV commercial trope once you're paying attention.

It's not really a commercial trope so much as a TV sitcom trope, going back at least as far as the Honeymooners.

It's also not as common as it used to be, as far as I can tell.

Edit: I've been thinking about it, and I don't think I can recall ever actually seeing "black male rescuing a white woman from a white male" being used in an advertisement, anywhere. Typically such a motif is used to present the black male as a threat, not as somehow heroically superior to his white counterpart.

Even then I can only recall its use in political advertisements (such as the infamous "Willie Horton" ad) and maybe very old movies.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#149

Post by Frondo »

2Ccltvcm wrote: post #52

Hedge funds and intelligence agencies are fingerprinting all groups within our society by monitoring the responses of various target audiences to engineered stimuli. This comes in the form of observing the response to selective dissemination of content with a known effect on observers (you). A few years ago we heard about some outrage nobody did anything about when it became clear Facebook was manipulating reader emo…

HN Admins: it's a bad look to leave a bit of white supremacist angst in one of the top comments of a thread on the front page.

> "strong healthy black man rescues white woman from a bumbling and pathetic white male"

I've already flagged the comment, but hopefully others will do so too; this kind of stuff really sticks out on a "hackers" forum.

Re: I left the ad industry because of data tracking

#150

Post by geggam »

DailyHN wrote: post #142
geggam wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to work for an ad company, ad blockers really dont stop the tracking. They just make the internet usable :)

Can you better explain this usability? When a site is littered with ads, the content probably sucks, too. Could the ads make the internet more usable? For example, they help evaluate the content before reading it and leading one to find better quality content sooner.

Every time I use a browser without noscript and ublock origin I feel inundated with all sorts of marketing material. Its distracting.

I used to simply switch to a CLI browser to google for things but these days its hit or miss as javascript is so heavily used.

Videos... auto run videos need to be abolished as well.

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