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Comment by fsflover | Hacker News Reader

Perhaps the actual solution is to ban ads through regulation, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43595269

I am all for it but it would be hard to enforce. Ads are already hidden everywhere. Someone "review" a product? Most of the time it is a hidden ad even if the reviewer hasn't been paid with money for that. Watches a movie or a video clip? A lots of products are advertised through close ups on the logos, etc.

Even a sign on the street is basically an ad. That plastic cow or pig head telling you there’s a butcher or cheesemonger?

It’s basically an ad. Possibly one of the oldest type too!

Sings on the owners' houses aren't paid ads.

Parent wasn’t referring specifically to paid ads, just ads in general, and their omnipresence.

And to your point: shops rarely own the building they’re on the ground floor of.

So? What argument are you trying to make? We can ban what most people consider ads while still letting reasonable store signs stay if we want to.

> So? What argument are you trying to make?

That, as the comment I was replying to said, ads are indeed everywhere, sometimes hidden in plain sight.

Nothing more, nothing less.

If there is a payment, there is a good chance to track it.

Youtubers happily do "reviews" in exchange of receiving stuff, regardless if they can keep it or not. They also know that if they are too critical they may not receive anything more and they don't have any material to review. This was already true on paper magazines.

No money is exchanged in the process.

Payment can indeed be made with goods.

Regulation is theater, effectively, thanks to regulatory capture.

This is a false argument. Regulations are effective. When was the last time you breathed in second hand smoke while eating dinner? Or inhaled lead from a passing car? Or asbestos from your neighbor's new house?

Defeatism will always be defeated

For now, it is, yes; but we must both plan for a future when that might not be the case, and advocate for effective regulations regardless.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com