At first internet advertising was a no-brainer. Agree to host ads, get revenue to keep your site afloat, make a profit, expand. Fine. But now we’re inundated with ads to the point people are turning off. Hell, there are ads I’d be happy to see, but I never will because I’ve blocked them with a Pihole and Ublock. The vast majority of people aren’t doing that, but are they actually buying the advertised products and services?
Guess I can’t get my head around the logistics. Seems like all the money in the world is available for advertising, but are these companies actually seeing a return on that investment? Reddit’s basically bots advertising to bots, and the stock market rewards them handsomely. Nobody involved is stupid, they know this is happening, yet companies are still throwing money around. (Someone will relate this to the AI bubble, but it’s not really the same thing.)
There was a great article posted here about how 40% (?) of ad views are bots. (If someone can find it, that would be great!) The issue came up to the author because he was tasked with finding out why the advertising spend wasn’t getting expected sales. The number of clicks didn’t jive with sales results. The advertiser was seeing some ludicrous clicks vs. sales that was 1/10th of what it should be.
And companies are paying for these dismal results?! Think of a time where you were responsible for results at a company. If your spent $X on a thing, and didn’t get at least $X dollars back, you would back off that spend or your boss would pull the plug. (Sure, marketing often takes time to get a foothold, I get that.) That’s how capitalism fucking works. And for all the bitching about capitalism, the players don’t seem to be doing that thing. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
Is internet advertising a sort of bubble? Doesn’t seem to be as it just keeps going.
Both your question and the answers are a sign of a healthy (oblivious) detachment from advertised society, IMO. Advertising works. Not to you, because you have the mental infrastructure to not want it to work. The right kind of advertising would work on you too, it’s probably just not profitable.
everyone thinks they are unique. but advertising really works on anyone. it is not like you are seeing an ad for nike and you are just “oh my god, i just realized i need some nike shoes RIGHT now”. but when you are in need for shoes in some future and you have to choose between nike and unknown_brand_27, it is more likely you will choose nike.
Assuming price is the same, would you pick a brand known for using child labor, or a company you know nothing about? I’d avoid the Nikes unless they’re the cheapest option.
so, you are okey with child labor as long as it produces cheapest option? man of a principle, i see 😂
it is a complex topic, but the fact is, that most people will choose the brand they know (meaning it was advertised to them long enough) over the other one, which is why advertising works and why companies dump money into it.
Read again.
This. It’s amazing to watch normal people operate. It’s like they think the universe must be showing them the ads for some profound reason
Oh people know they’re being sold and watched, it is just that many can’t resist in a very literal sense, because they have stressors that outweigh lost (seemingly theoretical) freedom by manyfold.
Also stressed ppl are better consumers. Less critical thought, more impulsive behaviour to alleviate anxiety