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Comment by JohannesH | Hacker News Reader

I work at an ad network and I've tried to push morals and ethics for 7 years now.

The problem is that the entire field is driven by sales people with very few exceptions. The only objective is to make more money tomorrow, so they only think about how they can squeeze the market just a bit more... Like "Oh there's an empty spot on that page, put an ad there now!", or "Hey did you see those ads that cover the entire page? Advertisers love those... I want you to implement it on all sites asap!".

Ethics, morality, user experience, security and privacy concerns are simply not a part of the equation.

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I'll start this off by sincerely thanking you for trying to push morals and ethics. That being said...

Too bad so sad. I actually would have liked advertising to help support good websites, but we gave them a good, long chance, and the industry blew it. Articles like this don't make me shed a single tear. I wish it was different, but that industry brought it on themselves.

The only problem is that we're now pushing ad networks into much more murky waters... And believe me, they'll do anything to make their monthly budget.

Ever heard of native advertising? Basicly just a catch-all name given to ads that look like content. You might think that advertisers are playing nice and that they stick a "sponsored" tag on ads that look like content (as the law requires most places), but in fact they "forget" quite often.

Then it seems pointless for you to preach morals and ethics. I don't blame you, but it sounds like the entire industry is about to find out what happens when you only focus on today and it becomes tomorrow.

Make sure you have an exit plan.

I'm thinking exit plans all the time. Just registered my first company, although I'm not entirely sure what my focus will be yet.

It's business. It's all driven by sales and profit. It's never otherwise.

"I work at an ad network"

That's the root of your problem.

I'll disagree with you. As someone who strongly hates ads, I think they could be useful and done well. They just aren't.

I've tried finding other work.

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