Jon S. von TetzchnerMar 21, 2025

The damage that Big Tech has done to news sites and media should not be underestimated.

It used to be that you would buy tech ads on tech media outlets. That was the best way to reach that audience. Now Big Tech makes a profile on you, which notes that you visit tech media sites. That information is then used when selling ads based on your profile.

The only real solution is to ban user profiling and go back to context sensitive ads. I think that kind of ads, as long as they are not using popups and the like, would be more acceptable to the public as well. People just do not like being tracked. Who would have thought?

https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/21/google-claims-news-is-worthless-to-its-ad-business-after-test-involving-1-of-search-results-in-eight-eu-markets/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=threads

#BigTech #Google #Microsoft #Regulation #surveillance #Technology

Google claims news is worthless to its ad business after test involving 1% of search results in eight EU markets | TechCrunch

Google has reported the results of an experiment it ran which removed news from search results for 1% of users for 2.5 months in eight* markets in Europe

TechCrunch
Show threadDan SeitzMar 21, 2025
@jon Having worked in media I'd LOVE to blame Google et. al. But the basic reality is that the whole ad side of the industry was rotten well before Google sold a single ad. Jim O'Shea's "The Deal From Hell" is a must-read in this regard.
Show threadDan SeitzMar 21, 2025

@jon There are three big problems here:

1) Ad sales cannot support a publication at this point.
2) Ad tech/profiling does not work.
3) The data we get from advertising tells us the whole ad model is flawed.

Show threadDan Seitz
@jon The whole digital publishing boom of the late 00s and mid 10s was essentially VCs being fleeced for millions on the promise that some third tier site would be the New York Times for millennials.
Mar 21, 2025 at 1:37pmWeb
Show threadDan SeitzMar 21, 2025
@jon Even now there's this relentless spiral of growing ad inventory driving down ad rates, and the response is to add more ad inventory at a cheaper price. Nobody seems to think this might end poorly.
Show threadJack Yan (甄爵恩)Mar 22, 2025

@Dseitz The same pattern that got us into this mess, in other words. Because the rates are nearing zero, it made more sense for us to do without that income and to promote our own companyʼs things and a few clientsʼ. The return is actually better.

@jon

Show threadDan SeitzMar 22, 2025
@jackyan @Dseitz @jon Yeah, more and more unsold inventory is going to this approach.