Hacker News Reader

Comment by j4nt4b | Hacker News Reader

How about banning advertisements altogether?

Just in case you’re not trolling: this is an impossible ask. Advertising is a vital step in the success of a business and has been going on for literal millennia.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but this type of argument where I'm asked to care about someone's business model really unconvincing in general. Someone else telling me that they need something sketchy to make money isn't persuasive - it just makes them sketchy a business or person.

What I'm certain will never happen even though I think it would be great would be to ban any sort of emotional appeal whatsoever in advertising. It's just manipulative.

I agree with this sentiment. However, I think advertising is necessary because what if you want to make a be candy bar? How will people know about it? The flashy wrapper you put it in? A fancy end cap store display? A billboard outside the shop you sell in? A television promotional? Is Steve jobs talking about iPhones an ad? Is bill gates talking about diseases an ad for Microsoft because they are intrinsically linked? There's no easy way to articulate what should and shouldn't be allowed.

> There's no easy way to articulate what should and shouldn't be allowed.

Except for - businesses with users should operate through subscription revenue, rather than 3rd party ad revenue.

https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?arti...

This makes the argument that the need to convey product information is now fully accomplished by search engines, and advertising only adds harm / manipulation.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com