You, however, are forbidden to touch them. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you're not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. ![]() They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. ![]() "People are taking the piss out of you everyday. Therefore, I do block all ads at the DNS level but I'm still receptive to ads relevant to my interests like 3d printing, home building & construction, aviation, etc. Unfortunately, it's the minority of cases where ads connect me to products that improve my life. In my case, my earphones/job/concerts were genuinely useful to me. >in theory an ad could be designed to be genuinely useful Yes, _most_ ads (including most Youtube ads) are harmful/intrusive/irrelevant but saying _all_ ads manipulate you against your best interest can't be right. I also went on memorable helicopter tours because of ads. I went to performances of classical symphonies and piano recitals because of ads highlighting the local orchestra and the upcoming season's schedule. I applied to the high-paying job that paid for my house because of an ad the company ran looking for my particular technical skills. That ad for earphones saved my hearing and sanity at noisy offices. I loved them so much that I've bought 3 replacement pairs over the last 2 decades as they've worn out. (It was a small company that specialized in hearing aids that expanded their product line into consumer hifi.) I wouldn't have learned about them through "word of mouth" because nobody I knew had them. There was nothing else on the market that combined audiophile sound quality with 25+ dB ambient noise reduction. I'm wearing $350 noise-isolating earphones at this moment because I learned about the product from an ad 20 years ago. If I invent something I truly believe will improve the lives of others that they might pay for, how would I let the world know about it other than ads? >I, personally, believe that the whole point of ads is to manipulate you into making purchasing decisions that are irrational.
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