The Case For Targeted Ads

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Posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 20, 2012 @11:00AM from the sell-it-to-me dept.

Nofsck Ingcloo writes "CNet has published a guest column by Eric Wheeler warning the world of the evil consequences of Do Not Track. In it he makes strong (I would claim exaggerated) arguments in favor of targeted advertising. He claims the threat of political action on Do Not Track should, 'strike fear into the hearts of every company that does business online....' He speaks of compromising a $300 billion industry, which I read as being the industry composed of online advertisers and all their clients. He clearly thinks the trade off between freedom from snooping and free access to web content always favors free access. He concludes his arguments by saying, 'Taken as a whole, the potentially dire impact of Do Not Track is clear: the end of the free internet and a crippling blow to the technology industry.' He then goes on to advocate contacting legislators and the FTC in opposition to Do Not Track."

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Bullshit by girlintraining · 2012-09-20 11:05 · Score: 5, Insightful

So what? It could be a three hundred quintillion dollar industry. It doesn't change the ethics, morals, or the fact that most people don't want it. Advertising has been shoved down people's throats. It's been put in places where it was promised not to appear. It eats away at our culture, it deadens people's nerves, and it saturates everything it comes in contact with. It is a plague -- and it needs reform. It is an industry without regulation, without controls, and with an insatiable appetite.
And not a one of them are for reasonable controls. It was only recently, and after fighting tooth and nail, that we even got them to stop screwing with the volume on our TVs. Fuck them -- when they learn to be responsible, then maybe I'll learn to give a damn whether they get thrown under a bus or not. But probably not.

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1. Re:Bullshit by ColdWetDog · 2012-09-20 11:11 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  It's the money. All the way down.
  Pretty impressive diatribe by an advertising executive. He probably eats the Wheaties box for breakfast.
  
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Excellent by DNS-and-BIND · 2012-09-20 11:14 · Score: 5, Insightful

All this screaming means that we're on the right track.

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Re:Irony not lost by TubeSteak · 2012-09-20 11:50 · Score: 5, Insightful

Why do we even listen to these people?
"We" don't, but our elected representatives do.

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Re:Irony not lost by RKBA · 2012-09-20 12:51 · Score: 5, Insightful

"We" don't, but our elected representatives do.
More specifically, our elected representatives listen to their campaign contributions, bribes, etc.

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