L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’ • Hacker News Board

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#271

Post by generalpass » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:06 AM UTC

TekMol wrote: post #248

generalpass wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could the LA Times run on your Adsense revenue?

This must be a misunderstanding. Let me rephrase my question: Why did the LA Times revenue get "nearly eliminated" while I don't see a change at all? The ads I see on my website seem to advertise all kinds of random stuff, so it is not like I am targeting a specific niche. Maybe some other HN users with websites that feature ads can chime in and tell their experience?

My understanding is AdSense is based on click-throughs and sales, which will be more reader-dependent than product-dependent.

How do you feel your reader demographic stacks up against the LA Times?

AdSense tends to be only certain types of advertisers. I can't say that I've ever seen a concert ticket or movie advertisement in an AdSense window, but I've also been running ad blocking tools for quite some time now.

At larger revenue levels, a lot of advertising deals may be more direct. For example, perhaps a major band advertises their show dates directly with the Times. Bands are currently putting the kibosh on their tours, so all of that revenue goes to zero.

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#272

Post by ColonelSanders » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:06 AM UTC

erulabs wrote: post #206

ColonelSanders wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not saying CEO's and management shouldn't have their traditional responsibilities. What's wrong with a windfall to make sure employees are protected. If a layoff is needed, clearly the CEO's leadership had issues - so something needs to done proportionally as severance. A large change in the lives of employees needs a large annuity fund for the laid off workers. The company can file a loan and pay it out over the…

> Why not consider factoring in ... human beings into the equation? You'd get much further in your arguments if you didn't often insinuate that others are vicious for not agreeing with you. You'd be hard pressed to find the leader who doesn't care or pretend to care about the human beings in the equation. If you choose not to believe them, OK, but it's extremely easy to dismiss someone who says "don't be evil" when y…

I don't see it that way.

I only gave ideas. My first word was, "Idea". And even for the ideas I gave, the replies were vague and didn't cite examples of why the hypothetical was a no go.

If I were to guess, the thought experiment was so different - it brought unease.

Which in itself is valuable to me. People are willing to accept extreme unfairness - even if it is harmful to people (layoffs) - if they can ease their anxiety and socially conform.

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#273

Post by clarry » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:08 AM UTC

malandrew wrote: post #177

jacobolus wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> other countries haven't locked down hard and aren't seeing a big spread Let’s be precise. Some other countries haven’t locked down hard and aren’t seeing a big spread yet . You mentioned Sweden. Here was Time a few days ago: > A head doctor at a major hospital in Sweden says the current approach will “probably end in a historical massacre.” He says healthcare workers at his hospital who have tested positive for the…

On a per capita basis sweden isn't really more worse off than many other countries that have shutdown. It's about middle of the pack. Personal responsibility lets us have our cake and eat it too. http://91-divoc.com/pages/covid-visualization/

Yeah not really worse off, just worse off than all their neighbors?

They have roughly an order of magnitude more deaths per million than Finland does (11.6 vs 99). We're somewhat locked down in Finland.

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#274

Post by kitotik » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:11 AM UTC

tempsy wrote: post #26

I’m definitely in the camp that “the cure cannot be worse than the disease” itself. Sitting in California where there are so few cases makes me wonder if the economic toll is totally worth it. Seems like we’ve used a tsunami to put out a campfire.

We’ve had more documented covid-19 deaths in ~6 weeks than we usually have murders in an entire year and it hasn’t even peaked yet. We have no clue how many cases there even are because we’ve utterly failed to do mass testing.

Serious question: do you have any family, friends, or even acquaintances that you would prefer not to have 3-6 weeks of terror and complete misery with a non-trivial chance of permanent disability or death?

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#275

Post by mistermann » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:13 AM UTC

jacobolus wrote: post #77

christophilus wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there are so few cases in California because of the measures that have been taken This is probably true, but other countries haven't locked down hard and aren't seeing a big spread. Our options aren't binary. It's not as if the only choice is "Nuke everything" or "Surrender". The US is not a very densely populated country, and density seems to have the biggest impact on the spread of this thing. We probably could d…

> other countries haven't locked down hard and aren't seeing a big spread Let’s be precise. Some other countries haven’t locked down hard and aren’t seeing a big spread yet . You mentioned Sweden. Here was Time a few days ago: > A head doctor at a major hospital in Sweden says the current approach will “probably end in a historical massacre.” He says healthcare workers at his hospital who have tested positive for the…

Keeping with the spirit of precision:

- that doctor is making a prediction about the future, based (in part) on evidence that you and I are unable to verify

- there has been no shortage of incorrect opinions and predictions from those who are genuine experts throughout this crisis

Please note that I am not disagreeing with you. Rather, I am adding benign supplementary information.

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#276

Post by roel_v » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:14 AM UTC

jeltz wrote: post #231

chewz wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On a per capita basis sweden isn't really more worse off than many other countries that have shutdown. This is so untrue. Norway and Denmark had initially many more cases then Sweden but since their curves flattened. As of yesterday Norway - 26 deaths / milion Sweden - 102 deaths / million Denmark - 52 deaths / milion

But there is also "Beglium - 359 deaths / million" which had early lockdowns. They started their lockdown one day before Denmark. By cherry picking countries one can chose a story to tell. I think it is too early to say if Sweden's strategy was stupid or not.

Belgium counts deaths not in hospitals much more accurately. Really, looking at worldometer numbers and comparing between countries makes no sense whatsoever, yet everyone (including media) does it anyway.

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#277

Post by mtberatwork » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:16 AM UTC

TekMol wrote: post #240

I run a website that is monetized via Adsense and I do not see a negative impact of the Corona pandemic. What makes the situation so much different for the L.A. Times then for a website?

The LA Times is not only a website but a printed newspaper as well were the bulk of advertising spend is (was) happening.

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#278

Post by kitotik » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:16 AM UTC

david38 wrote: post #180

jacobolus wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> other countries haven't locked down hard and aren't seeing a big spread Let’s be precise. Some other countries haven’t locked down hard and aren’t seeing a big spread yet . You mentioned Sweden. Here was Time a few days ago: > A head doctor at a major hospital in Sweden says the current approach will “probably end in a historical massacre.” He says healthcare workers at his hospital who have tested positive for the…

The good thing is we’ll see in the end. Lots of predictions. It’s almost as if you can’t be criticized for being too cautious. Sure, but the good will won’t last forever. The US accepts 22k deaths a year without blinking due to flu. That’s just the flu. What’s the magic number we’re willing to accept? 50k? 100? There has to be a percentage of the population we are willing to accept as casualty because we already do,…

Let’s not talk abstractly. How many deaths within your family and circle of friends are you willing to accept?

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#279

Post by mistermann » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:19 AM UTC

chewz wrote: post #245

jacobolus wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> other countries haven't locked down hard and aren't seeing a big spread Let’s be precise. Some other countries haven’t locked down hard and aren’t seeing a big spread yet . You mentioned Sweden. Here was Time a few days ago: > A head doctor at a major hospital in Sweden says the current approach will “probably end in a historical massacre.” He says healthcare workers at his hospital who have tested positive for the…

Anders Tegnell - author of Swedish strategy says that the measures are working and deaths are concentrated in Somali, Iraqi and Syria - born population. https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/coronaviruset/folkhalsomynd... https://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/a/2Gx0Ev/fodda-i-somalia-... Country of birth Number of cases Over-representation Somalia 283 7 Turkiet 150 5,1 Irak 242 2,9 Finland 188 2,3 Eritrea 55 2,1 Syrien 197 1…

Perhaps. Or perhaps cultural behavioral norms, or even just lack of understanding due to language barriers is to blame. Strategic, covert genocide seems fairly unlikely to me, but then I'm relying purely on personal heuristics, which in turn rely upon my limited knowledge of Sweden.

Re: L.A. Times to Furlough Workers as Ad Revenue ‘Nearly Eliminated’

#280

Post by uk_programmer » Wed, Apr 15, 2020, 11:22 AM UTC

Doctor_Fegg wrote: post #263

uk_programmer wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Journalists in general have been covering up stories where it not convenient for the narrative, have done hit coordinated hit pieces on members of the public and are generally a bunch of scumbags. No I won't ever be supporting these people.

Programmers in general have been, and continue to be, responsible for a lot of equally egregious things. Careful with that axe, Eugene.

This is pure whataboutery and I think it a pretty egregious act of deflection. There is always someone who thinks they have the `big-brain` and indulges in whataboutery. It has to be one of the worst sorts of mental masturbation out there.

The news media generally (and this includes the LA Times) smear people by either omitting detail (lies by omission), taking things out of context, misrepresenting various sub-cultures in society (anything from metal music, video games, to internet sub-cultures), run coordinated hit pieces on members of the public.

You can always go and point to somewhere else and say "there are bad things here". Okay so what? It not what we are currently discussing. I btw will call out any shitty behaviour by companies or individuals.