Reddit forces personalized ads, starts X-like user payment program
arstechnica.com
Like it or not, Reddit wants to "improve ad performance."

I left a couple of months ago. Couldn’t be happier.

The writing is on the wall. The leader thinks the Genius-with-hair-transplants is a superstar, despite destroying a globally recognised brand. Inspired by this, Spez is trying to get Reddit ready for an IPO. This means, maximise profits by any means.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Ads are meant to get brand recognition out there for most things. Then when you’re in a store you buy what you’ve heard of before. They wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t effective.

    • dangblingus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      You’re putting too much faith in the talent and insight of marketing executives. Large companies throw tens of millions of dollars at their marketing department. They’ll spend the money on a diverse ad campaign that ticks boxes, not one that is actually effective. People don’t buy based on the commercial they saw last. People buy what’s shoved in their faces.

        • CustodialTeapot@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          Absolutely spot on reply.

          Brand recognition and memory triggers is what big brand ads are about.

          Cleanex, Hoover, Coke, most cologne/perfume ads, Old Spice…

          • JohnnyEnzyme@lemm.eeEnglish
            0·
            1 year ago

            Brand recognition and memory triggers is what big brand ads are about.

            Cleanex, Hoover, Coke, most cologne/perfume ads, Old Spice…

            Late reply, but-- the above makes much sense to me when it comes to inexperienced / first-time buyers of a product. And/or buyers who simply get in to a rut and keep buying that product without trying anything else out.

            But for everyone else, I would think they sample enough tissues, sodas, perfumes, etc to gain an understanding of the ins & outs of a product, settling on choices which best represent their favorites / desired price point. For bigger-cost stuff like vacuum cleaners, I’m thinking people in this group also learn to use review resources to evaluate best choices rather than buy a Hoover just because some ads ran.

            So what does this all mean? Aside from overlap between these two groups, that there’s enough revenue being produced by the former childlike group such that ad systems can afford to almost completely ignore the latter, more adult group…?

    • Ann Archy@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      And by definition it’s still nothing but systematic brain washing. It’s actually very 1984, and I can’t understand how some people are ok with being manipulated into buying shit 24/7 and think that global perpetual invasive advertising is this perfectly normal thing that humanity has always had around…

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        I think capping it 1984 is a bit extreme, but I do agree with the overall sentiment. We’ve gone wag overboard in trying to monetize evert aspect of modern life. It gets old.

    • Scubus@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      1 year ago

      With very, very few exceptions, any time I see an ad I make a mental note to never buy that product. As such, most products I am familiar with(presumably because I saw an ad) I will not buy. The exception is pretty much just Hershey’s chocolate bars, I can’t live without them.