How a slowing digital ad market, Apple's ATT changes, tech companies' internal turmoil, weak content moderation, and more are contributing to a junk ad epidemic
written after Apple's new App Store ad format placed gambling ads next to gambling addiction apps — as the antecedent rebuttal to the NYT's piece this weekend that questions why, all of the sudden, ads seem less relevant. https://mobiledevmemo.com/... Sandeep Ramesh / @sandeepramesh : @Carnage4Life I'm yet to see ONE tangible benefit that people have experienced with Apple's improved ‘privacy’ experience, and no, Apple's search business revenue is not the benefit I'm looking for. Eric Seufert / @eric_seufert : I have some ideas. https://twitter.com/... Samuel Scott / @samueljscott : “Why are you seeing so many bad digital ads now?” Because in the online world, people think more about how to deliver and track ads rather than how to make good ones. https://www.nytimes.com/... Dean Eckles / @deaneckles : @PManchanda_ ... Of course there can be multiple causes here, and presumably the mix is different on Twitter than Instagram. But Apple's ATT clearly importantly affected targeting of direct-to-consumer ads on Instagram, with some DTC brands dramatically scaling back. Alex Kantrowitz / @kantrowitz : Is it me, or is it completely nuts that this article mentions Apple only once, and in the 15th paragraph! My goodness. https://www.nytimes.com/... @swodinsky : the nyt has never covered adtech particularly well, but this article is so.... weird! and boring! i'm very curious who this piece is *actually* written for https://twitter.com/... Peter Kafka / @pkafka : @matthewherper @tiffkhsu She does mention Apple briefly. Could probably spend more time on it but I do think the primary issue is overall weak ad market. But also Twitter's self-starter dumpster fire is so bad and so specific it seems almost wrong to include it in a price like this. https://twitter.com/... @nytimesbusiness : Scrolling past ads has rarely been enjoyable. But in recent months, people say the experience seems so much worse. In a shaky advertising market in an uncertain economy, ads that few people want to see suddenly seem to be everywhere. https://www.nytimes.com/... Dean Eckles / @deaneckles : @PManchanda_ ... Kind of odd that “privacy” changes don't get substantial attention here, which we have good reasons to think produce exactly this. Maybe you mentioned this @jessicayfong when speaking with @tiffkhsu, but it didn't make the cut... Steve Larkin / @stevielark : Isn't this just the obvious outcome of everyone becoming aware that the ability to microtarget ads is basically worthless https://www.nytimes.com/... Matthew Herper / @matthewherper : Curious about this. I thought one reason we were seeing so many bad ads is because of new limitations on ad targeting by Apple and Google. Not mentioned in this @tiffkhsu story. Am I off base? Cc: @pkafka. https://www.nytimes.com/... Cynthia B. Meyers / @annehummert : No mention of concerns about brand safety—it's not just advertisers' concern about their ad appearing next to bad content, it's also about programmatic placement removing the effects of contextual advertising, which was the format of legacy media https://www.nytimes.com/... Chris Yandle, Ph.D. / @chrisyandle : I don't think I could have expressed the current social media ad experience any better. All we're missing is a Spirit Halloween. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Dean Eckles / @deaneckles : An interesting, if anecdotal, article on reductions in perceived ad relevance — but that notably only briefly mentions any tech/policy changes that have made ad targeting much more difficult in many cases! https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Nu Wexler / @wexler : This story could use a few more paragraphs on Apple ATT. https://www.nytimes.com/... Peter C. Evans / @pevans_c : This article highlights the observation that there are many more ads on social media. However, ads are a negative network effect with predictable consequences. Flood a #platform and users will leave. The flywheel will slow and even go into reverse. https://www.nytimes.com/... @logorific2 : This is making me feel so old. People are complaining that ads are insufficiently targeted to them. Well Jesus Fucking Christ, maybe if you pay them 10 bucks a month they'll install spyware on your machine and cameras in your house to fix that? https://www.nytimes.com/... Brian Stelter / @brianstelter : >> @tiffkhsu writes: “Advancements in digital advertising technology were meant to improve users' experience... But lately, on several platforms, the opposite seems to be happening...” https://www.nytimes.com/... Matthew Greenfield / @mattgreenfield : Major social media platforms are now “like the mall in your hometown that used to be the good mall,” Mr. Richardson said: “But now there's no longer a Macy's there — it's just a calendar store and a place selling beepers.” https://www.nytimes.com/... See also Mediagazer
After driving a lot of the moral outrage around “privacy” and online ads, the New York Times is shocked that eliminating ad targeting leads to worse ads. This is the privacy you craved. Why see ads for things you might like when you can see random junk instead? Thanks Apple ATT. …
@deaneckles We estimate privacy change induced limitations on targeting reduce ad effectiveness considerably particularly for smaller scale advertisers. No surprise that ads seem less relevant when platforms have less information about what is relevant to you... https://papers.ss…
the nyt has never covered adtech particularly well, but this article is so.... weird! and boring! i'm very curious who this piece is *actually* written for https://twitter.com/...
I'd present this article — written after Apple's new App Store ad format placed gambling ads next to gambling addiction apps — as the antecedent rebuttal to the NYT's piece this weekend that questions why, all of the sudden, ads seem less relevant. https://mobiledevmemo.com/...
@Carnage4Life I'm yet to see ONE tangible benefit that people have experienced with Apple's improved ‘privacy’ experience, and no, Apple's search business revenue is not the benefit I'm looking for.
Scrolling past ads has rarely been enjoyable. But in recent months, people say the experience seems so much worse. In a shaky advertising market in an uncertain economy, ads that few people want to see suddenly seem to be everywhere. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@PManchanda_ ... Kind of odd that “privacy” changes don't get substantial attention here, which we have good reasons to think produce exactly this. Maybe you mentioned this @jessicayfong when speaking with @tiffkhsu, but it didn't make the cut...
“Why are you seeing so many bad digital ads now?” Because in the online world, people think more about how to deliver and track ads rather than how to make good ones. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@PManchanda_ ... Of course there can be multiple causes here, and presumably the mix is different on Twitter than Instagram. But Apple's ATT clearly importantly affected targeting of direct-to-consumer ads on Instagram, with some DTC brands dramatically scaling back.
@matthewherper @tiffkhsu She does mention Apple briefly. Could probably spend more time on it but I do think the primary issue is overall weak ad market. But also Twitter's self-starter dumpster fire is so bad and so specific it seems almost wrong to include it in a price like th…
Curious about this. I thought one reason we were seeing so many bad ads is because of new limitations on ad targeting by Apple and Google. Not mentioned in this @tiffkhsu story. Am I off base? Cc: @pkafka. https://www.nytimes.com/...
No mention of concerns about brand safety—it's not just advertisers' concern about their ad appearing next to bad content, it's also about programmatic placement removing the effects of contextual advertising, which was the format of legacy media https://www.nytimes.com/...
I don't think I could have expressed the current social media ad experience any better. All we're missing is a Spirit Halloween. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
An interesting, if anecdotal, article on reductions in perceived ad relevance — but that notably only briefly mentions any tech/policy changes that have made ad targeting much more difficult in many cases! https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/...
This article highlights the observation that there are many more ads on social media. However, ads are a negative network effect with predictable consequences. Flood a #platform and users will leave. The flywheel will slow and even go into reverse. https://www.nytimes.com/...
This is making me feel so old. People are complaining that ads are insufficiently targeted to them. Well Jesus Fucking Christ, maybe if you pay them 10 bucks a month they'll install spyware on your machine and cameras in your house to fix that? https://www.nytimes.com/...
>> @tiffkhsu writes: “Advancements in digital advertising technology were meant to improve users' experience... But lately, on several platforms, the opposite seems to be happening...” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Major social media platforms are now “like the mall in your hometown that used to be the good mall,” Mr. Richardson said: “But now there's no longer a Macy's there — it's just a calendar store and a place selling beepers.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
Amazon's advertising biz is still booming -> Meta's limited ad targeting options & Amazon's ad product investments are leading brands to shift their budgets to Amazon; Amazon's ad business grew 19% in Q4 and is a $38B annual business now: https://www.cnbc.com/... https://twitter.…
Online advertising isn't one category. Amazon competes more with Google than with Meta. Using the example in the article, you go to Amazon & Google when you've decided to buy an alarm clock. An ad on IG/FB suggests buying one. They're different products https://www.cnbc.com/...
Amazon is a big competitive threat to Facebook (and really, to every other search & social media business) as ad targeting suffers... by @JonathanVanian @CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/...
Amazon's ad business, which has catapulted to third among digital ad companies, grew 19% in the fourth quarter, while Facebook parent Meta reported its third straight drop in revenue By #CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/...
Plus, Amazon ads are not that complicated. FB ads are hard to set up, difficult to figure out, and they reject ads all the time for the dumbest of things. Amazon is the latest threat to Facebook as ad targeting suffers https://www.cnbc.com/...
This is real.. $AMZN is doing really well on ad business and it makes social media ad based revenue making companies like $SNAP, $PINS look silly. https://www.cnbc.com/...