[foepys]

> I view ad targeting as good for the world: they help make my life better by aiming me at products and services relevant to my interests and needs, sometimes when I didn't even know such a thing existed. It saves poor reinvention of the wheel in so many cases.

Let me give you another point of view:

Ads benefit the already wealthy corporations above small businesses that cannot pay billions for ads and add another lay on to inequality.

"Reinventing the wheel" is sometimes necessary for innovation, often called disrupting the market.

Also, I believe that endless consumerism is actually killing the planet and ads (no only banner ads but also product placements) play a huge part in making people feel insecure and less worthy just because they don't have the newest gadget.

[disgruntledphd2]

In case you weren't aware, the targeting tools provided by Google and Facebook have actually rebalanced the advertising market back towards smaller businesses.

I kinda agree on the consumerism thing, but that's more a reflection of our society than evil genius advertisers.