[nannePOPI]

Targeted ads are great. Things cost less because there is more competitions between suppliers and they don't have to pay a lot per piece, since they can target only the specific people who needs the thing they sell. This is GREAT for people with small business and low budgets... but we know now that Europe only care about the big business and billionaire overlords. Also with targeted ads you don't have to hear/read about products you will never care for a moment in your life.

[wlll]

I feel like the GDPR is working for me to help prevent companies treating my data like it belongs to them.

I guess I'll have to check under the bed for my missing billions.

> Also with targeted ads you don't have to hear/read about products you will never care for a moment in your life.

I don't have to look at irrelevant adverts at all because I use an adblocker. Something I started to use because of the battery sucking CPU fan abusing privacy invading toxic wasteland that is the online advertisement industry.

The tech industry in general, and online advertising companies specifically proved over many years they couldn't be trusted to look after people's data and privacy, so forgive me if I don't shed a tear for the shitbags who now have to stop exploiting me and my family's data.

[xr4ti]

In no way do the benefits outlined by OP even come close to outweighing the systemic risks posed by omnipresent surveillance coupled with precise targeting of individualized persuasive messaging with the intent of behavioral change.

The way targeted advertising is currently implemented is a mass violation of privacy and autonomy, a clear and present threat to democracy and liberty, and an indicator of the complete ethical collapse of the US tech sector.

[glenndebacker]

"Also with targeted ads you don't have to hear/read about products you will never care for a moment in your life."

When I'm researching for product of a certain kind, I often get advertisements for months after I bought such a device. I still get ads for a 3D printer that I bought 3 months ago, I stopped caring then and find it frankly annoying.

It has been more then 10 years now but I've worked a couple of years in e-commerce when Google Analytics was still Urchin and ad-sense was not a big thing. You know how we needed to drive sales traffic to our sites ? By providing good and informative content and that sometimes being the smaller shop.

[jacksmith21006]

Agree 100%. Targeted ads enable us to have shorter ads also.

[rubidium]

The corrupt ecosystem around enabling "they can target only the specific people who needs the thing they sell" however is a terrible thing for humanity and targeted ads are a neccesary (and welcome to me) casualty.