A couple of years ago I realized that Spotify's recommendation algorithm provides me with a better selection of music than any other method ever has.
Lately I've found ads targeted using advanced ML implementation have been of great value to me as well.
I don't remember ever purchasing products from direct response marketing before, but this year I've purchased multiple high importance things that I would not otherwise been even aware of.
Personalized recommendations by an app based on your usage of that app are not what people mean by "targeted advertising." The privacy implications are completely different.
I looked it up after writing the last paragraph, and indeed "playlists are [...] based on the country you live in, genres you listen to and your age" (https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9456319/spoti...).
Still I'm not sure if this information comes from tracking or my mistake of signing up to Spotify with my Facebook account.
>convincing you that you needed a product that you actually didn't
What if it's convincing him that he needs a product that is actually of benefit to him, that he didn't know existed?
I don't want crap pushed on me without consent. Once you have consent, (which is me doing a pull of what you're offering), then it's okay.
I'm surprised with all the controversy over consent in the last year or so that Tech and Ad companies still don't understand this. Then again, the wisdom of Upton Sinclair applies.
--It is difficult to get someone to understand what their paycheck is dependent on them not understanding
>The user on the other hand gets no benefits, the society gets no benefits, and those who benefit are random people whose motives are unclear.
This is blatantly false. In this thread alone there are multiple people who have stated they find benefit through targeted ads.
Several years ago I saw a Facebook ad for an online coaching program for aspiring music producers.
It was exactly what I needed at the time, but I had no idea that someone had put something like this together, and I would never have independently thought of googling this. Instead, I relied on music production tutorials on the one hand, and generic productivity advice on the other hand, and assumed that was the best help available out there.
That is just my anecdote, but I'm sure everyone here has their "how could I possibly live without this before" product or service.
Advertising can be useful, and the more targeted, the less obnoxious.
Then by all means, in the future, opt-in whenever you need to!
Your only foundation for this reasoning is that you've bought more things. What this definitely says is that the advertising is targeting you successfully, what it does not say is that you benefited from it. You clearly lived before you owned those things, presumably pretty well given your evident spending habits.
In conclusion, when looking at this post we can say just as easily that you were harmed greatly by targeted advertising.