AdSense Sucks

Roller Derby was the most popular show on television. Then advertisers realized the demographic had no money. Hill Street Blues had lousy ratings but the demographic was management. Now they can target ads to individuals rather than shows. But the current marketing is pathetic. Given all the individual demographic that advertisers have I should be soft putty in their hands. Instead, they parrot my own history back at me. Why tell me about a site I have already visited or a product I have just purchased? Tell me something I don’t know.

Amazon tries. “If you like this, you might consider that”. If I were an advertiser, I would want to screen out the people who know about me. When Harold Washington, mayoral candidate, was passing in front of the CO-OP grocery store, the bagger yelled to him:

-Harold, go somewhere they don’t know you.

Washington was smart enough to listen. When I see poorly targeted ads, I suspect the company is bad at everything else. There is a fine line between reminders and nagging.

Likewise click bait and product placement. The advertiser is screening out anyone whose intelligence is insulted. There is an argument that people are reassured by dumb ads. Smart ads awaken critical faculties and postpone purchasing decisions. I see dumb ads or marketing as foreswearing good faith.  A lot of ads seem to be pleas for legitimacy:

-We’re a real company, we advertise.

Coupons and discounts tell me the product was overpriced. Admittedly people buy chips, pop and fentanyl. The people who travel are often the people who travel. Still, if I were American Airlines, I would want to target people who had just flown Delta, my own customers already know about me.