Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy • Hacker News Board

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#441

Post by deaux » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:15 AM UTC

uoaei wrote: post #290

gruez wrote: post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly the problem. At the end of the day, unless you increase production of "stuff" (or coconuts), there isn't going to be magically more "stuff" (or coconuts) to go around just because people are shuffling "stuff" (or coconuts) around.

I don't understand what compels you to continue down this line of thought when its obvious flaws have been so clearly elaborated by other commenters.

I think you are more than capable of understanding what compels them, it's just not a very fun conclusion and one you'd rather not draw.

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#442

Post by deaux » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:33 AM UTC

somenameforme wrote: post #194

dexterdog wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, both are 100 pct in the pocket so the only possible answer is a third entity which is highly unlikely.

I don't think it's outright corruption so much as quid quo pro. Think about PRISM and other such things. US tech companies operate globally, hoover up a vast amount of personal information, and pass it all right along to the US intelligence agencies. So the more intrusive and vast these companies become, the more the US intelligence apparatus gains from it. Polls consistently there's extremely high levels of concern…

This is a very reasonable take. No idea why this has been downvoted, besides possible the hordes of (ex-)big tech employees here who just can't come to terms with their (ex-)employers being about as ethical as those they like to think of as beneath them.

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#443

Post by ehnto » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:33 AM UTC

bastawhiz wrote: post #133

The ads are a problem (or will be, when the temptation to add them to paid plans becomes too great), but the bigger problem in my opinion is going to be the "SEO" that companies will do to make their ads appear in places that they don't belong. "The sieve of Eratosthenes is an ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to any given limit. But if you're looking to have fluffier baked goods, consider this flour…

Google and other search engines are already failing to surface real results, it feels like the general forces of SEO have already flooded the internet with AI generated articles. I am honestly gobsmacked by the speed of the turn around, finding real articles can be quite tricky. It matters for niche topics because the details matter, and they seem to be using cheap models to generate and spin the articles.

It isn't surprising, when article spinners were popular SEO experts were generating thousands of spun articles a day.

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#444

Post by deaux » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:35 AM UTC

parineum wrote: post #251

littlestymaar wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Advertising is a tax that goes to an oligopolistic cartel.

I've never gotten $2 for $1 of tax I paid. At best I'm getting $1 of services back, usually much less.

You have no idea how much you've gotten for each $1 of tax you paid, as you've never spent enough time trying to properly quantify it, to the extent that's even possible.

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#445

Post by ehnto » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:36 AM UTC

dcreater wrote: post #397

bastawhiz wrote: post #133

The ads are a problem (or will be, when the temptation to add them to paid plans becomes too great), but the bigger problem in my opinion is going to be the "SEO" that companies will do to make their ads appear in places that they don't belong. "The sieve of Eratosthenes is an ancient algorithm for finding all prime numbers up to any given limit. But if you're looking to have fluffier baked goods, consider this flour…

Its already here - its called GEO and their are silicon valley startups already pumping out crap to feed next gen models so that you ensure you're product is baked into the weights

The next gen of models are going to need very strict sanitising of input articles as I think the sheer volume of GPT SEO spam is going to be, or already is, quite staggering. Model collapse might not be what happens but certainly a dilution of quality in training data.

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#446

Post by dexdal » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:47 AM UTC

ehnto wrote: post #445

dcreater wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its already here - its called GEO and their are silicon valley startups already pumping out crap to feed next gen models so that you ensure you're product is baked into the weights

The next gen of models are going to need very strict sanitising of input articles as I think the sheer volume of GPT SEO spam is going to be, or already is, quite staggering. Model collapse might not be what happens but certainly a dilution of quality in training data.

This looks like a workflow problem more than a model problem. When inputs aren’t controlled, scale amplifies noise faster than understanding. Tools improve, but the decision boundaries stay the bottleneck.

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#447

Post by ehnto » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:48 AM UTC

dankwizard wrote: post #398

I don't understand why people are upset. How do you monetize free users? Ads. What other websites do this? All of them. Not controversial. Not an issue. Ads are what gets me property and news flash, they aren't going away.

It's just disappointing that this is the best society could come up with. Advertising is exploitive, this is well studied, but it is also just kind of a lame outcome.

I also wonder if the dollars and cents work out, the cost to provide the service to show the ads on is astronomical in comparison to other ad networks, but I don't have details enough to make any claims on that aspect.

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#448

Post by moehm » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:52 AM UTC

werdnapk wrote: post #342

imhoguy wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

YT ads are intrusive like with TV. You can't skip most them easily anymore like you can scroll and skip sponsored Google Search results.

Firefox and ublock origin... no ads. I avoid youtube on my mobile device as it's a lot more difficult to control the ads there.

NewPipe[0] is a client for YouTube on mobile. It's available on F-Droid and it hides the ads.

There are some forks floating around which also include SponsorBlock, but I haven't tested them yet.

[0] https://newpipe.net/

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#449

Post by Aerroon » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 3:59 AM UTC

csense wrote: post #209

bearjaws wrote: post #62

There is something to be said about the state of advertising. Increasingly it seems you must go to the almighty Google or Meta in order to launch any business. We're looking to expand into a new business line and have out grown our pharmacy capacity. The new business line will cost about $2M in software dev, and $3M for the new facility. The advertising budget? $40,000,000 (annual). We can build 10 robotic pharmacies…

Advertising spend being too high is a symptom of a supply glut. Too many products in the marketplace, not enough consumers to buy them. In a different world where there are higher wages, more people would have more spending power. Then companies wouldn't have to spend as many dollars on advertising, which they could split between higher wages, higher margins and lower prices. Alas, the short-term single-firm directio…

>In a different world where there are higher wages, more people would have more spending power.

I don't think that's true, not for random goods. Rent scales with disposable income. If most people make more money, then rent becomes more expensive. Rent essentially vacuums up all the excess money people have available. (Rent = housing in this case)

Why would people want to live in these more expensive places rather than somewhere cheaper? It's because that's where all the (well-paying) jobs are.

When you see Americans complaining about how poor they are you might reasonably ask: okay, but how do people on $poorCountry get by when their income is 5-10x less? It's not like food, clothing, electronics, and other goods are 5-10x cheaper there. But what is much cheaper is housing. (You'll even find cheap housing in rich countries, it'll just be in areas with no jobs.)

Re: Predicting OpenAI's ad strategy

#450

Post by somenameforme » Mon, Jan 19, 2026, 4:09 AM UTC

smt88 wrote: post #335

somenameforme wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's wiser to judge the parties by actions rather than rhetoric. From both parties there has been complete absence of meaningful action on the issue, even though both have regularly cycled through complete control of government with majorities in the house and senate while also holding the presidency.

Both parties have sued Alphabet and won a major case, although the outcome isn't ideal. Meta and Apple have also been sued by both parties for monopolistic behavior.

The Bell system was broken up primarily for being the largest telephony operator while also being the largest seller of telephones. Microsoft, prior to PRISM and modern weirdness, initially lost an antitrust case over bundling Internet Explorer with Windows that could have led to their breakup.

Modern stuff has gone so absurdly far beyond these, with anticompetitive behavior essentially being the core of their entire businesses, that you'd think we're living under a completely new legal system. We are not, take Alphabet or Meta back to AT&T's era, and they'd be broken up on summary judgement.