| The only data that can't be leaked is the data people don't have. When the OPM could be hacked, everything can be hacked. Based on this, the only solution is to make sure nobody has any information that may possible be leaked and, at the time or later, be connected to me. In addition to that nobody targets ads with value, because valuable products are super rare and don't need advertising because those show up in magazines, on blogs etc created by people interested in the field, because sharing those products give value to their readers. I tested it recently on youtube, both by my locked in account (15? year old google account with a ton of info) and in a firefox container. The first ad was for some casual mobile game/scam and the second was for something I can't remember anymore. I also don't remember the first ad I got on the account that wasn't logged in, but the second one was for a website that sold used iPhones, something that I am very much interested in. So, despite knowing a ton of me, Google couldn't show me a related ad that was better than the ad it showed when it had no data. For a very long time the ads in gmail were all about getting loans no matter how poor my credit was, when my issue was that I need a good place to invest my money, not take on expensive loans. Currently they were trying to sell me extra chargers for electric cars, of which I don't own any. Facebook showed me a generic ad for cancer awareness aimed at somebody 15 years older than me (they know my real date of birth). Previous to that they showed me a ton of ads for extra comfy travel trousers. Twitter got the closest by showing me ads for places to buy crypto (yes I am interested in that space, no I won't by stuff from ads that scream scam to me). I don't know what will replace ads, and it is possible that ads might bring some value in specific cases but in general they are a waste of money. I suspect Google etc knows this, but can't say it for obvious reasons. Brand awareness ads might make sense, but it doesn't really make sense to target those much. |