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 threadJon S. von TetzchnerMar 21, 2025

@Dseitz

When we had contextual ads, things worked better. IMHO we should go back to that by banning user profiling and thus surveillance based ads.

Show threadDan SeitzMar 21, 2025
@jon @Dseitz Frankly surveillance based ads would worry me a lot more if anybody actually used the data, but they don't, because the data is fundamentally useless.
Show threadJon S. von TetzchnerMar 21, 2025

@Dseitz

That data is also used to decide what you see on social media sites and wherever popularity based content algorithms are in use. That is likely a major reason for the division in society.

Show threadDan Seitz
@jon @Dseitz I work in marketing and used to work in publishing, I've worked with these tools, and it has left me deeply skeptical of their supposed power and effectiveness, because everyone forgets one VERY important factor here: Personal inclination and choice.
Mar 21, 2025 at 2:21pmWeb
Show threadDan SeitzMar 21, 2025
@jon @Dseitz People have agency. They make choices. There is no algorithm that gets past free will. It's not a pleasant thought, but it's one we have to deal with.