Does anybody actually see ads?

[romanof]

This is nothing new to anyone in today's society, just my musing while backing away from a program session for a while.

We have become a country of ads. Nothing but ads everywhere. TV, Streaming, Spam, billboards, websites that exist only to shovel ads, etc. And some good and legitimate websites that need to make money, but make it almost impossible to view their content without a blocker. Ok, nothing here that isn't known by all.

But, thinking about it, I realize that I have long trained myself to ignore ads. Clear back to old TV days, the advertising intervals gave you a chance to go to the bathroom or kitchen for more snacks. And, you would know almost exactly how long the spiel would be, so you could drop back in your chair just in time. Today, with any surfing on the phone, an ad flows by every couple of paragraphs. On an iPad, they are all over the screen. Even Netflix apparently has decided that their business is showing ads, well, maybe with some kind of content added to spread them apart a little. Then Amazon. Now Apple, maybe?

But, they have a problem with me...

I don't see ads. Thinking about it, I gave myself a test, strolling through the news for a while, then stopping to remember what I saw. Answer, very little. There was a car of some kind, a dating site, fat pills...

I never (as in NEVER) click on an ad except by accident, which is way too easy to do on a tablet. From me, companies may get paid for ad impressions just because they got it to my glass panel, but the advertiser totally wasted their money. Over and over. I certainly buy lots of stuff online, but I search it out myself.

I see arguments that it must work, or advertisers would stop the ad-spraying. But does it, or do they continue because everyone else is doing it and the ad department insists that we can't stop or we lose out? (and our jobs). After all, lots of people take homoepathic medicine or wear copper bracelets in full belief that such stuff works.

Just some thoughts, now ended because I just realized where my bug is...

 

[boswald]

I can’t say I do, because I usually annihilate them from orbit with adblockers, DNS and/or host files. I think I’m haunted by the years I spent removing things like Bonzai Buddy and toolbars from my family’s computers.

 

[eyoungren]

This is nothing new to anyone in today's society, just my musing while backing away from a program session for a while.

We have become a country of ads. Nothing but ads everywhere. TV, Streaming, Spam, billboards, websites that exist only to shovel ads, etc. And some good and legitimate websites that need to make money, but make it almost impossible to view their content without a blocker. Ok, nothing here that isn't known by all.

But, thinking about it, I realize that I have long trained myself to ignore ads. Clear back to old TV days, the advertising intervals gave you a chance to go to the bathroom or kitchen for more snacks. And, you would know almost exactly how long the spiel would be, so you could drop back in your chair just in time. Today, with any surfing on the phone, an ad flows by every couple of paragraphs. On an iPad, they are all over the screen. Even Netflix apparently has decided that their business is showing ads, well, maybe with some kind of content added to spread them apart a little. Then Amazon. Now Apple, maybe?

But, they have a problem with me...

I don't see ads. Thinking about it, I gave myself a test, strolling through the news for a while, then stopping to remember what I saw. Answer, very little. There was a car of some kind, a dating site, fat pills...

I never (as in NEVER) click on an ad except by accident, which is way too easy to do on a tablet. From me, companies may get paid for ad impressions just because they got it to my glass panel, but the advertiser totally wasted their money. Over and over. I certainly buy lots of stuff online, but I search it out myself.

I see arguments that it must work, or advertisers would stop the ad-spraying. But does it, or do they continue because everyone else is doing it and the ad department insists that we can't stop or we lose out? (and our jobs). After all, lots of people take homoepathic medicine or wear copper bracelets in full belief that such stuff works.

Just some thoughts, now ended because I just realized where my bug is...

For 20 years I was in the newspaper business. While building the actual newspaper later became a big part of my job, my main function was always to build ads. Growing up in the 80s I could appreciate some well done commercials (and still do), but most of the time this stuff is simply ignored by me. If I have to ability to remove it (browser or paid streaming service without ads) I will, but for the most part I just naturally filter it out.

I'm Gen-X, so the TV was always on as background noise when home alone. Even today, working from home, the TV serves as background noise. I may notice a commercial from time to time, but that's usually because it's got something so ridiculous, annoying or unbelievable in it that it finally broke through to my consciousness. Usually at that point, I make a mental note to NEVER use that product or service - the opposite effect of what the advertiser intended. I use Amazon Firesticks and free services mainly so just like with broadcast TV the ads/commercials are the cost of getting a free stream. And a lot of time, the streaming app I use for local news just shows a black screen with its logo during commercial breaks.

Ads aren't relevant to me and they make me angry when I'm not in the market or actively looking for something. When I'm ready to buy something I'll do my own research and it won't be based on an ad. Ads aren't believable and serve usually to present the best face of the product to the consumer while minimizing the bad qualities. I'm being snowed and deliberately misled. So, again, I ignore them.

As a Gen-Xer I'm quite capable of ignoring things and have a pretty good sense for hypocrisy. So, while ads must be reaching someone they generally don't reach me at all unless I deliberately choose to not ignore them.

 

[jz0309]

For the 3 streaming services we subscribe to I happily pay the “ad free” premium, it’s wonderful …
I’ve recently watched some old/foreign shows on YouTube and get ads, annoying, and I tune them out.
My physical mail, I typically pick it up only once per week nowadays, is 80+% junk (aka ads) and goes straight into the trash.
The US ad industry is expected to be just under $400B revenue this year, so they must see benefits …
A lot of “services” now ask you to register with your email, resulting in getting “ads” aka junk into your inbox …
Some people must pay attention to ads though…

 

[fanboy-ish]

No, I've been blocking them since Adblockers came to be and on other mediums I just ignore them.

I find most ads to be silly, like they're aimed at a children, I know ads need to be understandable by anyone, but most of them are so silly that they end up being irritating.

Now, here's something fun, when I watch the NFL I watch the ads because they're something new to me - I'm not from the US - even though they're showing the same ads over and over again during a game, and I sometimes watch collections of Japanese ads on YouTube, some of them really are outlandishly funny, at least to me.

 

[Bubble99]

But, thinking about it, I realize that I have long trained myself to ignore ads. Clear back to old TV days, the advertising intervals gave you a chance to go to the bathroom or kitchen for more snacks

And people like you are the reason you go to website and there are three ads or more on the website. AND lots of ads on YouTube and long ads because most people trained them selfs to ignore ads. So they put more ads for the profit that is loss.

 

[romanof]

And people like you are the reason you go to website and there are three ads or more on the website. AND lots of ads on YouTube and long ads because most people trained them selfs to ignore ads. So they put more ads for the profit that is loss.

Gosh, I hadn't realized that it was me that has caused this avalanche of ads. Could be though. I am old enough to remember when you got almost 55 minutes of entertainment in the hour, rather than the current 35 or so. Come to think of it, back then a person who paid off his bills in full every month was a respected citizen. Now, of course, if you aren't willing to pay 18% month after month on money long spent, you are a freeloader on society.

So... I must apologise to everyone on this website for not being more interested in "a magical way to remove belly fat" or not believing a link that says, "!!!You won't believe...!!! (fill in any number of improbable items)".

 

[Allyance]

CNN has started to same TV commercials ahead of their video segment on their new sight. With the TV it is easy to block the ads, I pull up the cable guide and mute the audio. I have found I can move the video window up so only about 15% of the video shows and mute the sound. Real pain it the neck. I will never buy anything they advertise that interrupt the news. There are some really gross ads for shingles and other skin disorders, then there the idiots hawking Balance of Nature (freeze dried fruit and veggies) and Prevagen. I use ADBlockers on the iMac and iPhone. I never turn it off if they ask.

 

[eyoungren]

A lot of “services” now ask you to register with your email, resulting in getting “ads” aka junk into your inbox …

It's largely for this reason that any time I sign up online I use my Yahoo email account. I only send email from that account when dealing with those I've signed up with and that's infrequent. Free, lots of storage and the big reason for me is that Yahoo's spam filters are exceptional.

If I'm going to get spam, I'd rather it go to an account for interception and appropriate disposal so I never see it.

 

[jz0309]

It's largely for this reason that any time I sign up online I use my Yahoo email account. I only send email from that account when dealing with those I've signed up with and that's infrequent. Free, lots of storage and the big reason for me is that Yahoo's spam filters are exceptional.

If I'm going to get spam, I'd rather it go to an account for interception and appropriate disposal so I never see it.

yea, I have an old hotmail account for those purposes, but hotmail or now outlook spam filter sucks.
My main email is gmail and it does a pretty good job with regards to spam/junk

 

[eyoungren]

I am old enough to remember when you got almost 55 minutes of entertainment in the hour, rather than the current 35 or so.

Same.

My wife and I were watching an episode of Law & Order once (this would have been some time in 1998 I think). I wasn't paying too much attention as I was also doing something else. But she remarked about how they'd caught the 'killer' so fast. Absentmindedly, I told her that that wasn't the 'killer'. When she asked me why I 'knew' that I told her I knew because the show had only run 25 minutes at that point. If they had the killer, the show would pretty much be over and there was at least another 30 minutes to go.

So... I must apologise to everyone on this website for not being more interested in "a magical way to remove belly fat" or not believing a link that says, "!!!You won't believe...!!! (fill in any number of improbable items)".

Any ad that presumes to dictate something to me or about me is an instant fail in my book. There is nothing that gets me from zero to full on rage than someone else (who has no authority in my life or over me) telling me what to do or how to be.

Any advertiser hoping to get anywhere with me using that tactic will find that I remember them for all the wrong reasons and that they've created an anti-customer who will NEVER buy a single thing from them - ever.

 

[Mousse]

If advertiser want my eyeballs, they have to incorporate their ads into the movies/shows itself like how Ceveza Cristal does it. Obiwan telling Luke that his father wanted him to have a cold beer when he came of age. And his old lightsaber, but beer comes first. Or Palpatine force levitating a beer while recruiting Luke to the Dark Side. The Emperor is a regular bloke, he is.😉 Or how Obiwan grabs a beer at every opportunity; the man is a high functioning alcoholic.😁

 

[scubachap]

Back in the days of analogue advertising (not so long ago now) a joke used to do the rounds when it came to looking at the advertising budget - We know we're wasting half our money on these ads, but the really tricky bit is figuring out which half!

 

[BotchQue]

Been interesting to read thru this thread.

I don’t watch much TV anymore (mostly news), but because of my location an OTA antenna no longer works, so I’d signed up for EweTubeTV. That services’ “unlimited DVR” has been a godsend for me. I usually watch the local/nat’l CBS News, both recorded, and start watching at 5:40 or so, so I can watch both in about half the time, FFing thru the commercials (and THANK YOU Siri for your “FF four minutes” command!).
From another thread here, I’ve been experimenting with the “SwizzTube” app to watch EweTube sans ads, and have mostly figured out its quirks. Thank You to the folk(s) that mentioned that app.

When Prime raised their rates a couple months ago I dropped it, and have done the same for amazoid music, and will be dropping AppleTV (the app) as soon as they start pulling similar shenanigans. The only “social media” I do is facebook (having attended 4 different colleges and done USAF tours/weekend bands all over the country, it was a cool way to keep up with everyone) but I stay away from fb’s “Home” page, just click on “Notifications”, which allows me to keep up with everyone without having $&^@#! ads shoved down my throat.

I never sold my vinyl/CD/book collection when the Digital Age arrived, and I’m glad I didn’t; that may be where I end up spending most of my retirement….

 

[Herdfan]

Growing up in the 80s I could appreciate some well done commercials (and still do), but most of the time this stuff is simply ignored by me.

The two current ad campaigns I will stop FFing and watch are the Progressive Dr. Rick and Allstate Mayhem ads. Both are very well done and entertaining. Funny how they are both insurance companies.

Most of the SB advertisers wasted their money, but the Dunkin one was pretty good.

 

[decafjava]

Gosh, I hadn't realized that it was me that has caused this avalanche of ads. Could be though. I am old enough to remember when you got almost 55 minutes of entertainment in the hour, rather than the current 35 or so. Come to think of it, back then a person who paid off his bills in full every month was a respected citizen. Now, of course, if you aren't willing to pay 18% month after month on money long spent, you are a freeloader on society.

So... I must apologise to everyone on this website for not being more interested in "a magical way to remove belly fat" or not believing a link that says, "!!!You won't believe...!!! (fill in any number of improbable items)".

Well one ad for fitness made me happy, it started out "Are vegetarians healthy? Are vegans healthy? French fries and beer are vegan..." then some spiel about real healthy eating and sport - I just yelled "woohoo!!" Homer Simpson style and pressed skip.

 

[eyoungren]

The two current ad campaigns I will stop FFing and watch are the Progressive Dr. Rick and Allstate Mayhem ads. Both are very well done and entertaining. Funny how they are both insurance companies.

Most of the SB advertisers wasted their money, but the Dunkin one was pretty good.

Stephanie Courtney (Flo in the Progressive ads) was there to offer advice about being recognized in public and dealing with all that to Kevin Miles (Jake from State Farm).

The fact that I even know the names of these two actors is attributable to the quality of the ad campaigns they 'star' in.

 

[KaliYoni]

Stephanie Courtney (Flo in the Progressive ads) was there to offer advice about being recognized in public and dealing with all that

For anybody interested, here are two articles about "Flo" and "Lily" (AT&T Mobile) and their experiences playing characters in long-running ad campaigns:

A few months into the reprise, however, the tenor of Lily’s — and therefore Vayntrub’s — reception abruptly veered from benign tolerance to lecherous malevolence. In the summer of 2020, seemingly overnight, one small but vocal corner of the internet fixed its gaze upon Vayntrub and began referring to her by a new name: Mommy Milkers, a reference to her breasts. En masse, people spammed the comment sections of AT&T’s social-media posts with lewd declarations and emojis of glasses of milk. The jeering became inescapable for Vayntrub, bleeding into the comments of her personal social-media accounts. Recent posts and years-old ones were targeted. Her personal photos were widely redistributed among strangers. Spammy websites promised access to pornographic videos of her that did not exist. The physical isolation of lockdown exacerbated the experience for Vayntrub. “Our real world was so small,” she said, “that the internet felt like everything.”

When Being a Spokeswoman Attracts Leering Internet Trolls

When you lend your likeness to a nationwide ad campaign, things don’t always go perfectly. Just ask Milana Vayntrub.

www.nytimes.com

Courtney did not intend to sell insurance. She meant to star on Broadway and then, following wish revision, to support herself as a comedic actress. Instead, she has starred in the same role for 15 years and counting, becoming in the process a character recognizable to nearly every American — a feat so rare her peers in this category are mostly cartoon animals. Since appearing in the first Flo spot in January 2008, Courtney has never been absent from American TV, rematerializing incessantly in the same sugar-white apron and hoar-frost-white polo shirt and cocaine-white trousers that constitute the character’s unvarying wardrobe. It’s true that her career did not launch until she was 38; and most of her audience could not tell you her name or anything about her; and many of the attendees of the Groundlings improv show in Los Angeles, in which she still performs weekly, probably do not recognize her — set all that aside, though, and Stephanie Courtney is one of the most successful actors in the world.

Everybody Knows Flo From Progressive. Who Is Stephanie Courtney?

A polo shirt, a white apron and a retro hairdo changed an actor’s life forever.

www.nytimes.com