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Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

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Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#81

Post by wlesieutre »

jrockway wrote: post #75
wlesieutre wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny you use light switches as an example because I have indeed spent some hours looking at light switch options. Decided not to blow a bunch of money on smarthome stuff (yet…), but for anyone who likes to tinker with that kind of thing the Inovelli switches look pretty fun. Time well spent? Who knows. But I know more about smart light switches than I used to!

Something else I think about a lot. I have Lutron Caseta but would probably choose something Z-wave if I were starting from scratch today. Proprietary stuff is generally not as flexible as the more open-ecosystem stuff, but Caseta works perfectly with Home Assistant. The worst part of smart lights is how I've forgotten the tactile sensation when flipping a light switch. Sometimes I see regular light switches outside…

Caseta is definitely the non-tinkerer's premium option, I have family members who have used it for years with no complaints.

I don't like their weird button pads, but more recently they also come in a normal looking rocker version. Don't know how tactile it feels but I would bet nicer than the original Caseta controls.

https://www.casetawireless.com/us/en/product/diva-smart-dimm...

Inovelli makes a Z-wave version (red series) as well as a Zigbee (blue series) which is supposed to support Thread/Matter eventually. Among other things, they can operate either as a switch to turn off a circuit, or in "smart bulb mode" where the circuit stays powered and on/off commands are sent to the bulb.

Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#82

Post by onlyrealcuzzo »

Terretta wrote: post #21
onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, sure, build a better search engine that functions and is better without ads. Easier said than done. The internet is 99.99% scams and trash. It's easier said than done to find the signal in the noise. Some times - willing to pay (and being vetted not to be a scam) is a good indication of signal. Unfortunately, Google could do a little better on vetting their ad partners. Too often these days, ads are scams.

> build a better search engine that functions and is better without ads https://kagi.com > The internet is 99.99% scams and trash. It's hard to find the signal in the noise. https://blog.kagi.com/small-web

Strange to define something as better with ~0% market share and not meaningfully growing, but sure.

Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#83

Post by tennisflyi »

graypegg wrote: post #66
alwaysrunning wrote: post #49

Honestly, who here sees ads? My son owns a marketing firm and anytime I see his display it's shocking to me how different it looks than mine.

I worked a short while at Mindgeek (The pornhub holding company) and it was the first time I had every faced the internet without adblockers in a very long time. (Most of the work I was doing involved ads themselves.) Definitely was not "great" but also not the worst thing. Pretty quickly I regained whatever sky-scraper ad-blindness I had in the early 2000s.

They changed names recently, but yeah.

Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#85

Post by plorkyeran »

RankingMember wrote: post #19
valine wrote: post #8

It’s disappointing to see google lacking basic self awareness like this. Ten years ago they seemed highly competent and nearly unstoppable.

I wonder if bringing Larry and Sergey back into day-to-day leadership roles would help. They've been out of the day-to-day so long I wonder how long the ramp-up time would be, though.

The rumor is that neither of them has even the slightest interest in ever being involved in running Google again.

Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#86

Post by 20after4 »

jrockway wrote: post #38
wlesieutre wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Meanwhile the alternative is mobile apps and an icon on your homescreen, an effect that makes Apple and Google rich for taking a % of the revenue from those apps, and one of the largest job programs ever for software engineers. Not to mention that you suffer the same problem in the App Store when you go searching for the Faceboook app. They have to bid for ads against competitors that want to show up when users try…

Something I think about a lot is what the world would look like without advertising, i.e., you'd have to make every decision on its merits, and never rely on bought opinions. Like imagine you walk into a grocery store, and every shelf is lined with plain cardboard boxes with the name of the product on it ("chocolate-covered breakfast cereal") and a nutrition label. You walk in and there is nothing other than the meri…

A long time ago, brands used to mean something. They invested a lot in advertising (branding) to promote their products but they also invested a lot in their products so that brand would mean something. There was a tangible difference between the brands and people acquired brand loyalty because of it. That has almost entirely disappeared. Most products are all the same shit with different packaging and color schemes. But that is relatively new development.

Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#88

Post by cosmotic »

What do they think people are searching for where the ads are valuable? I've never clicked an ad and it be what I wanted, except when it's like a search for "target" and I wanted "target.com" and Target paid for the top ad spot (which would have been the first link if there were no ads)

Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#89

Post by Terretta »

artursapek wrote: post #14

Cigarette executive: "your lungs are actually worse off without cigs"

Cigarette Exec "Starter Pack":

1. Lung Inflammation: Nicotine in cigarettes may have anti-inflammatory effects, potentially aiding conditions like COPD or asthma.

2. Stress Relief: Smoking can provide temporary relief from stress-induced shortness of breath.

3. Pollutant Resilience: Constant exposure to cigarette pollutants might hypothetically increase lung resilience to other environmental toxins.

4. Parkinson's Disease: Some studies suggest a correlation between smoking and reduced risk of Parkinson's, possibly due to nicotine's neuroprotective properties.

5. Weight Management: Cigarettes can suppress appetite and increase metabolism, potentially aiding in weight control.

6. Mental Health: Nicotine may temporarily alleviate symptoms of mental health conditions like schizophrenia or depression, acting as a form of self-medication.

Re: Google ad exec: “it is a worse user experience to not have ads on the page”

#90

Post by jrockway »

wlesieutre wrote: post #81
jrockway wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something else I think about a lot. I have Lutron Caseta but would probably choose something Z-wave if I were starting from scratch today. Proprietary stuff is generally not as flexible as the more open-ecosystem stuff, but Caseta works perfectly with Home Assistant. The worst part of smart lights is how I've forgotten the tactile sensation when flipping a light switch. Sometimes I see regular light switches outside…

Caseta is definitely the non-tinkerer's premium option, I have family members who have used it for years with no complaints. I don't like their weird button pads, but more recently they also come in a normal looking rocker version. Don't know how tactile it feels but I would bet nicer than the original Caseta controls. https://www.casetawireless.com/us/en/product/diva-smart-dimm... Inovelli makes a Z-wave version (re…

Yeah, I have the rocker switches ("Diva") and they are not particularly tactile. To me the worst feature is that they aren't instant off when you press the off side of the rocker; there is like a 500ms ramp down time. This has no negative effect on my life, of course, but it does bug me. I bought this system before I knew that anything hacker-friendly even existed, so I'm always slightly disappointed, but at the same time... they work really well and I wouldn't replace them at this time. Also, no neutral wire required, which is quite convenient for my older electrical system. (My apartment was apparently completely remodeled in 2017. The electrical system is original to the 1950s building, though. Weird stuff. I'm very jealous of the smarthome YouTubers in their brand-new house with 200A electrical service and those blue plastic wall boxes.)
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