I like to imagine an alternate universe in which all advertising is banned, similar to the way advertising certain products (alcohol, tobacco, medication) is banned in some countries. Sure you can put a sign above the front door of your business, and sure you can buy a slot in the yellow pages, but that's all folks. We'd need different funding models for radio, television and much of the internet, but we're smart, we can figure it out.
I can't figure out what the point of this article is, but let's talk about advertising and AI, since that seems to be a primary focus.<p>Advertisers using generative AI to create ad campaigns is a diversion at best. The only use of AI advertisers are interested in is how they can embed ads directly in the personal AI assistants the world is starting to use. If a conversational AI model can be manipulated to casually mention a specific brand in its output at precisely the right moment, then that's the most accurate form of targeting, with the highest chance of engagement. AI assistants are trusted much more than any search engine, or any media we consume, so it's only a matter of time until we start seeing these integrations with mainstream models. No AI service provider will be able to resist cashing in on the advertising dollar, regardless of what their "benefit of all humankind" marketing agenda claims. They're sitting on a data gold mine much larger than the one adtech currently controls, with user demand that will eventually surpass social media and entertainment sites. The opportunity to monetize AI is enormous, and that's the next advertising frontier.<p>Advertising is a scourge on humanity. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h9wStdPkQY" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h9wStdPkQY</a>
> the former chief creative officer of Leo Burnett US, recalls one agency trying to lure her in the ’90s with a stunning oceanfront house in Rye, N.Y.<p>That’s quite creative or a great troll: Rye, NY has no oceanfront.<p>It does have a Playland on the Long Island Sound.
The ad revolution is here, but not in the way people think.<p>How many more ads can Twitch, YouTube, and Facebook add? Twitch plays 8 minute ad reels, my Facebook feed is a cesspool, and YouTube would probably be bad if I didn't block all ads on the platform. Amazon searches are close to 50% ads for the first ~30 results. Even DuckDuckGo is getting into the dark patterns - it's almost impossible to differentiate what is an ad vs a genuine search result.<p>Is ARPU up? Or is it much flatter than these companies would like?
I almost never see ads<p>I live in a (mostly) ad free bubble, yay!<p>"Persuading people to buy things they don't want, with money they don't have, to impress friends who don't care"<p>The worst of the worst.
I don't mind advertising. In seasonal amounts and targeted. In fact, I sometimes buy B2B magazines just to check out the ads.<p>This being said, most online ads as scum, fraud and clickbait. Outbrain anyone?
Both the creatives in media (all forms - ads, news, sports, movies, radio, tv, games etc) and the ad tech crowd don't talk about barely growing global disposable income. Meanwhile they are furiously producing more and more content (ie real estate for ads).<p>What happens when production outpaces consumption or supply over shoots demand? Naturally hiring will slow, mergers and consolidation, cost cutting via relying on tech and more automation.<p>We have sort of peaked in how much people's Attention can be milked. In both time and cash. They just don't like talking about it.
> During an hour-long call this past week to sell investors on the virtues of a $30 billion merger of two advertising giants, data and technology came up a dozen times each. AI, eight times. “Creativity” was uttered once.<p>Dark portents indeed.<p>When these koolaid drinkers realise what they have done, make sure you demand triple your old rate to bail them out.