[nr2x]

Any sufficiently advanced form of advertising is indistinguishable from malware.

[akomtu]

Advertising is phishing. Malware is what the ads try to sell.

[doggosphere]

Doesn't seem to fit the definition of malware:

Malware is any software intentionally designed to cause damage to a computer, server, client, or computer network. A wide variety of malware types exist, including computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, adware, rogue software, wiper and scareware.

[Nextgrid]

> spyware, adware

Most advertising behaves like spyware for targeting purposes. It would be fine if it was consensual, but it's basically never the case.

> scareware

This is more about the ad's content than the concept of advertising itself, but online advertising is essentially the wild west and advertising platforms happen to get away with serving misleading ads that use scare tactics to get the user to do something against their best interests (sometimes even downloading actual malware).

[jdthedisciple]

That's not your own quote, is it? Where have I heard it before?

[Maximus9000]

The original quote is: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". ~Arthur C. Clarke

[nr2x]

My own spin on the ACC classic, been using it for years.

[clankyclanker]

Or the corollary: any advertising distinguishable from malware is insufficient advanced.

[ysavir]

What makes it insufficient?