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We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

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Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#251

Post by skinfaxi »

lars_von_pidor wrote: post #79

The only reason Google is pushing this AI crap is so that they can shove ads right into people's throats without them being able to use ad blockers (it's easy to block a web script but virtually impossible to block the text itself), effectively doubling their profits overnight.

In the US at least, I believe the FTC requires ads to be clear and conspicuous when those ads are designed to otherwise blend into the general editorial style. I could see AI being regulated as influencer marketing, but hopefully with more enforcement.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#252

Post by kibwen »

sedawkgrep wrote: post #62
nelblu wrote: post #15

> We’re introducing more helpful ads in AI Mode I always chuckle when ad companies say that. I have never seen a helpful ad in google search, but well I have been using adblockers forever so I would not know.I am honestly curious though, for those who don't use adblockers - what percentage of ads that you see are actually helpful?

Since when have we considered ads something helpful? Their purpose isn’t to be helpful. They're there to sell you something, and nothing more. Any semblance of helpfulness is misinterpretation and merely coincidental.

This. Ads are industrialized brainwashing designed to induce dissatisfaction in the viewer to stoke demand for shit you don't need. And because companies pay for ads and then pass the price on to you, you're getting taxed on everything you buy for the privilege of being brainwashed.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#253

Post by throwatdem12311 »

ablation wrote: post #187
throwatdem12311 wrote: post #109

I’m so glad I use Firefox with ublock origin with the “ai widget” filter. It’s not perfect but you will pry it from my cold dead hands.

For anyone interested in such a filter, this one is great in my experience: https://github.com/Stevoisiak/Stevos-GenAI-Blocklist

How does this compare to the Easy List filter that’s included by default?

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#254

Post by kccqzy »

nelblu wrote: post #15

> We’re introducing more helpful ads in AI Mode I always chuckle when ad companies say that. I have never seen a helpful ad in google search, but well I have been using adblockers forever so I would not know.I am honestly curious though, for those who don't use adblockers - what percentage of ads that you see are actually helpful?

A pretty high percentage. But that’s only because the ad goes to the same destination as the first organic search result. Just search for a brand whose web address you don’t know, and usually both the ad and the first results goes to the brand’s home page.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#256

Post by neolefty »

ablation wrote: post #2

Well, yes. I mean of course they are. They're an ad company.

Yep, and they're a company! Gotta pay the employees, power bills, and investors somehow. If I'm paying a subscription I think I get to expect no ads. But not if it's "free" ...

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#257

Post by rdtsc »

pautasso wrote: post #242
rdtsc wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not if the models come from Google. The ads will be implicit in the model. X is better that Y an Z would be easy to add to a the training set.

Does this mean the model must be retrained every time a new ad is posted? How much are AI ads going to cost?

Yeah, I meant not individual ads but implicit forced/influenced preference for certain brands. Let’s say it always picks Coke vs Pepsi when giving an example of a soft drink. Or picks BMW when asked to pick the best car. Which cloud provider is the best? -Why, GCP of course, etc.

Companies then get to bid for a preference “place”. This is more like Google paying to be the search engine default in Firefox.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#258

Post by mrweasel »

neuropacabra wrote: post #222

I never got into DuckDuckGo, but here we go. Defaulted from yesterday when Google made AI Search a default for Google Search. Well, I have been using Altavista and others so I can get used to another one.

Seeing people still using Google is, perhaps not surprising, but perhaps a little sad. Google still dominates search, while providing one of the poorest search experiences. The fact that they can continue to dominate on momentum alone is crazy, given how much better DuckDuckGo, Ecosia, Bing and Kagi is.

Re: We're testing new ad formats in Search and expanding our Direct Offers pilot

#259

Post by SJMG »

superloika wrote: post #218
SJMG wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to mention the entire well is "poisoned" now. You can avoid LLM points of entry. You can't go to a random source and expect to avoid generative output.

There is a way to see old results, by adding "before:2023" to the search query.

Great, as long as you don't mind the nexus of all human communication to be frozen in time three years ago.
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