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If a makeup company wanted targeted ads for their dark-colored cream, they would advertise on BET instead of Hallmark TV channels.

They have traditionally had this functionality.



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Why don't companies just place ads by content? If you are reading an article on diaper rash then you would see ads related to caring for a baby.

Yes, but at least the ads are likely to be targeted and contextual rather than the blanket-cover approach of conventional TV ads.

Do you read articles or visit sites having to do with clothes? What about perfume or meds?

Context adjacent ads have worked fine on TV and in magazines for quite a long time. NYT claimed their ad revenue went up by getting back to that.


Because they sell specially-formatted ad spots that are supposed to look like results, not generic display ads.

This seems unrelated to the original post's request. He does not say he wants to see fewer ads, nor ads for specific brands, but rather more customized ads.

Good point, the ads could be content driven rather than user profile driven.

Actually, that's a real thing advertisers DO want.

It's called retargeting.


They're informing us about the performance of different kinds of advertisements, which helps us focus our money on the ones that count, which I can't deny is a pretty big value-add. I don't know of any direct alternatives for doing that.

Advertisers have always been choosy about what kind of content their ads are placed near.

TBF, when you integrate ads, you also integrate all the dark patterns that the advertisers choose to use (unless the ad provider blocks them, but I wouldn't rely on that)

Brands are sensitive to where their ads appear. Many brands do not want their ads adjacent to COVID 19 content.

The alternative is context-sensitive ads based on surrounding context.

There are other less invasive ways to advertise.

While I am not a big fan of advertising in some cases it may be a necessary evil. If I was going to see ads, I would prefer that they are:

A - generic as to my identity attributes B - Not personalized in any way, except to the site

Basically, much closer to the ads back in the 90s.

If it works for TV for decades, it can work for the web.


I'd imagine that the advertiser could only show needle ads next to content about sewing / knitting and be very effective at reaching the desired audience without resorting to collecting PII about that audience.

Any reason this wouldn't work?


The only ad that it shows is "promote with us", so that is really relevant. They should choose some ads networks that has real ads already, may be running alongside with this one.

I've seen plenty of SO-specific ad campaigns being run on the site.

The post is about how these specific ads have different options available than every other ad.

You missed out the third option, which is ads relevent to the content they’re embedded in. This metaphor worked from 300 years ago through to 15 years ago with no problems.
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