I think advertising will always be something that people spend money on. The reality is that people don't care what specific product they buy when they need to buy a class of product. What's your favorite brand of toilet paper or toothpaste or whole wheat flour? You probably have no preference; so if advertisers spend money on putting their product first in the Amazon results or at eye level in the grocery store, you will probably buy that one. It matters to them, but doesn't matter to you. And for that reason, they will always spend money on it.<p>There are also things that I buy where I do have a preference, but could be persuaded to try something else. I have particular brands of t-shirts, underwear, socks, etc. that I re-up on from time to time, but if some evidence arrives "this is better" I would consider buying it.<p>Most of the ads I see on the Internet are kind of a waste, though. Here are some ads I remember from the New York Times, which is basically the only platform that I don't block ads on:<p>1) Delta has a lot of flights to the west coast from New York. I don't really care, I have 700,000 miles on American and unless you are going to sell me a business class seat for economy prices, I'm not going to try your product. Even though your ad literally takes up my entire screen. I'm sure you paid a lot for that, but it means nothing to me. I am aware that Delta as a company exists. Because of my awareness, I choose not to buy your product ;)<p>2) I could buy a wide variety of $3MM condos throughout the New York area. If I had $3MM, I would. I don't, though, so you wasted your ad money again.<p>3) Luxury watches are a thing I could buy; I have seen ads from both Omega and Rolex. This is actually relevant to my interests, but I don't see myself ever buying a Rolex (too many people that aren't interested in watches have them); a Grand Seiko will be next. If I ever feel like spending $6000 on something I don't need, which isn't really my style.<p>4) Today, the only ad I'm getting is one for "SAS for AI". If I needed AI, I would probably write it myself. Somehow that sounds easier than talking to their sales team and sorting through their probably incorrect documentation. (If you wanted to sell that to me, tell me how much it costs, and show me how good the documentation is. Instead, all they are showing is a stock photo of some guy with glasses. He has glasses so he must be smart! Wowie!)<p>Anyway... my point is that advertising will always exist, but I do agree that a lot of money is being wasted.