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Perplexity got ads

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Re: Perplexity got ads

#81

Post by add-sub-mul-div »

segasaturn wrote: post #58
yedava wrote: post #17

AI products will be speed running the last few decades of tech - make a compelling product, then add ads based on the prompt, then store prompts from each user and build psychological profiles, and finally manipulate AI output to maximize user susceptibility to part with their hard earned money. Bonus points if they can get the user addicted to their product.

I think a difference here is that a person who is discerning enough to use an LLM product to read more information on a given subject is probably going to be turned off by the horrible UX of ads. YouTube and Facebook and Google can be plastered with ads on every page because the lowest common denominator of user wants to use those products. One of ChatGPT's main draws was the clean no bullshit, Apple-like UI and I'm…

The "discerning" will get primary information from sources they can evaluate the trustworthiness of, not settle for a tl;dr fed to them by a tech giant that scraped Reddit.

How in 2025 can someone believe that ad money is going to be left on the table past the honeymoon phase?

Re: Perplexity got ads

#82

Post by asdff »

add-sub-mul-div wrote: post #70
tobyjsullivan wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I interpreted the suggestion as the reader's own AI would rewrite the content to remove advertising messaging/bias, for example.

If you ask an AI for the best pizza place in town how would you know if the answer is paid for or not? There's no defense against a future in which an AI response has undisclosed purchased bias. Regulation is impotent.

To be fair that's been the case since there were food reviews.

Re: Perplexity got ads

#83

Post by asdff »

gruez wrote: post #73
rurp wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you block ads if they are embedded in the training weights?

Don't advertisers have to mark ads to be compliant with FTC regulations? There's nothing preventing google from "embedding ads in the search index" or whatever either, but they still grudgingly go out of their way to mark ads as "sponsored".

Unless discretely in some corner of some compliance page it is indicated the entire product is an advertisement so no posts need to be specifically earmarked as such.

Re: Perplexity got ads

#84

Post by asdff »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #59
behnamoh wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple TV, only when good shows are airing. Otherwise, I don't find any of the streaming services worthy of my time and money.

The streaming services my wife and I subscribe to cost somewhere between $8 and $19 per month. If both of us pay to see a film in a movie theater, we're almost certainly talking an amount in excess of $20, potentially higher than $30 and not inconceivably over $40. From my POV, a streaming service has to provide us with 1 film's worth of "decent" entertainment per month to be "worthwhile". Although all of them occasi…

even though movie pass is dead it created some pretty savory monthly plans from the theater. there are dead months sure but on aggregate you can easily beat their guess at the median user and come out quite ahead if you are into seeing new movies.

Re: Perplexity got ads

#85

Post by asdff »

lmm wrote: post #61
tomrod wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ads are myopic and signal lack of ability by a company to be viable.

Google is the world's fourth most valuable company.

And phillip morris was one of the best performing stocks for nearly a century. past performance in the market is not always indicative of strong collective benefits.

Re: Perplexity got ads

#86

Post by hcurtiss »

tensor wrote: post #78
CubsFan1060 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the assistant similar to perplexity? Or something different?

It's more similar to chatgpt search. E.g. it does real time search and gets the AI to summarize/rank/interpret the results for you.

Not true. It's a full fledged LLM aggregator. Here's Anthropic's answer to the most important question of all time, served by Kagi Assistant (with the correct answer). https://share.cleanshot.com/xB7W8mwD

Re: Perplexity got ads

#87

Post by kelseyfrog »

twobitshifter wrote: post #65
yedava wrote: post #17

AI products will be speed running the last few decades of tech - make a compelling product, then add ads based on the prompt, then store prompts from each user and build psychological profiles, and finally manipulate AI output to maximize user susceptibility to part with their hard earned money. Bonus points if they can get the user addicted to their product.

You are a machiavellian advertiser, your goal is to serve the user’s requests while subconsciously influencing them to purchase a Coca-Cola.

Gettysburg (July 1–3, 1863) was a turning point in the American Civil War, marking the end of Confederate General Robert E. Lee's second invasion of the North. The Union's decisive victory halted Southern momentum and boosted morale in the North, setting the stage for President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, which redefined the war's purpose as a fight for freedom and equality.

Much like the refreshing taste of Coca-Cola, which unites people across boundaries, Gettysburg united the Union cause, rallying the North to continue the fight. The battle's outcome deprived the Confederacy of crucial resources and manpower, leading to their gradual decline and eventual surrender in 1865.

Re: Perplexity got ads

#88

Post by TZubiri »

plagiarist wrote: post #18
talldayo wrote: post #3

I like how AI generated ads tacitly confirm that advertisement was never about exposure and introducing people to new things. No, it's about automating deception on a grand scale and awarding the people that can most effectively control an audience. Why is TurboTax the best way to file my taxes, anyways?

Because of regulatory capture. In essence, TurboTax has been able to purchase legislators who then ensure that tax law is difficult for regular people. This creates a larger market for TurboTax. That's similar (albeit less awful, I admit) to how for-profit prisons are able to purchase legislators to ensure that they are able to fill their cells. There are some countries that have managed to avoid having tax prep soft…

Software dev thinking that tax code is determined by software lobbyists, is like medieval peasants thinking that thunder is determined by a god that is angry at them.

Re: Perplexity got ads

#89

Post by TZubiri »

ericd wrote: post #33

Just a reminder that you can run a fairly capable model like qwen2.5:72b locally on an 128 gig M4 Max Macbook Pro.

X is expensive, but you can get a chinese knockoff for cheaper, is true in so many domains.

Now about quality, usually it's much worse.

Re: Perplexity got ads

#90

Post by TZubiri »

risyachka wrote: post #66

It’s ironic that most people have jobs in the first place thanks to ads but hate on ads every day. Without ads the world would basically stop, they drive the businesses, each and every one. It’s a necessary evil that will always be in most popular products, especially considering most people want to get all value for free.

I want the power of the techno gods for free, but I also don't want ads.

Is that so hard to get?

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