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sphlast Wednesday at 6:42 AM1 replyview on HN

The only good ad is no ad.

To engage with your question, the only way to truly, objectively ‘add value to one’s life’ is to become intimately familiar with them, their habits and everything they do on- and offline to understand what they need. This is the entire modus operandi of the current ad industry.


Replies

eucyclosyesterday at 12:35 AM

I agree. Thing is, Google and meta could do that today, if after getting a sense of what people need they actually showed them ads that helped with whatever that is. Instead they show whatever ad will make the most money immediately, which is only very rarely the same ad. The result is an erosion of trust that reduces their long term maximum potential. It's like they're stuck in scarcity mindset even after getting more money than Exxon.