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by akira2501 4387 days ago
Serious question: are you sure you'd actually be happier? I like efficiency as much as the next guy, but that doesn't mean that I'm looking forward to companies more efficiently marketing to me. Especially if it's going to be constant.
2 comments

I have already started to notice ads targeted at me. Ads for niche outdoor gear companies that I patronize.

I can report that it has indeed made me happier, as compared to when the ads were "Click here, Millionth visitor, and win a prize!". The dragnet advertising is a constant assault on your intelligence.

It also helps that the targeted ads I am seeing are tasteful & well designed.

I adblock 90%+ of the time, but I let ads through on some websites.

It can go both ways. When I was researching for the next car I was going to buy, I started getting a _ton_ of car advertisements; however, most of them were useless. What their simple algorithm failed to notice is that I was looking at a very specific class of cars, and I spent more than 1 hour on several manufacturers websites doing research and had mostly narrowed in on my choice. The proper move would be to see that and advertise different dealerships to me, but I only got ads for other cars that I already decided I _didn't_ want.

Also, I like to research, in general. Which means I can often come across and get deeply into some very odd subjects and it seems there are some odd correlations out there in society. For example, after doing a bunch of research on different world religions and their origin stories, I started getting ads for the Mormon church, and strangely, for all types of gambling websites, destinations and attractions. None of this advertising was of any use.

No, I'm not sure. However, I suspect we have some way to go before ad tech gets good enough to creep me out.