I used to think that way too, then changed my mind.
I'd rather get random, un-targeted, irrelevant, and even annoying ads from companies that have no idea who I am or that they're even advertising to me.
Less creepy that way, also more likely to result in the serendipity of learning new things outside my filter bubble/what the algorithm predicts for me.
Sometimes in order to find the real signal, you have to accept that a lot of noise comes with it.
While it may be less creepy, it's nearly impossible to break even running advertising this way. And until there is a way to promote a business, especially a new business, without some form of marketing, it's a necessary step in the online ecosystem. In the old days it was possible to fire blind ads and do okay. But as the costs continued to climb it became more important to be able to target your audience in a more accurate way. Retargeting/remarketing has become a very powerful tool in this process.
The last thing in the world I want to do is pay real money to put ads in front of someone that has no intention of buying and no interest in becoming a customer.
It's bad enough that the primary platforms are making the process more and more of a black box where they control every aspect of the marketing process.
What about the people that bought your email from someone you shared your email address with? That's part of the problem, from the consumer standpoint.
That's fine. They can ask for your consent and you can provide valid, informed consent to this ad targeting, and then get better ads.
What's no longer acceptable according to GDPR is forcing this onto people unknowingly, or by packaging it into a "take it or leave it" package of fine print.
I'd rather get random, un-targeted, irrelevant, and even annoying ads from companies that have no idea who I am or that they're even advertising to me.
Less creepy that way, also more likely to result in the serendipity of learning new things outside my filter bubble/what the algorithm predicts for me.
Sometimes in order to find the real signal, you have to accept that a lot of noise comes with it.