Your Advertising Isn't Getting Through To Me
Do advertisers even care that I have three hands?
I've been following some discussions about advertising, such as Amazon's recent decision to include ads in Prime Video streaming unless you pay extra to opt out. While I understand that advertising is necessary (after all, that's how my wife earns her money!), the reality is that most of the ads I see online—and occasionally on television when I can't avoid it—are irrelevant to me.
The same goes for the ads I see on LinkedIn, where I'm a paying subscriber. They're usually unrelated to my interests and often annoying. I wonder if the clutter in LinkedIn’s basic feed is a subtle attempt to push people into using (and paying for) Sales Navigator.
I’ve also read that some TV streaming platforms are planning to show ads when streams are paused or between programs. If that happens, I’m canceling.
I understand the economics behind it, and I’m open to ads if they’re useful and relevant. One issue I face is that I use several platforms, and each one seems to have a different idea of what might interest me. There's usually no way to fine-tune or specify exactly what I'm interested in. What I see and hear is often based on what someone else thinks I might want to buy.
Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe in TANSTAAFL (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) and am willing to pay for what I value. But the current system isn’t working. I suspect there are advertisers who would like to reach me and my family but can’t get through because of the way these platforms are set up.
Copyright (c) 2024 by Dennis D. McDonald. The image at the top was generated using ChatGPT 4o after a series of prompts to fine tune an initial image that displayed a handsome young white guy with plenty of hair. But I did leave the three hands; they are useful when I’m toiling in my workshop!
