Hacker News Reader

Comment by DuncanCoffee | Hacker News Reader

I have a dream, to ban targeted advertising globally. It would solve many problems and possibly, cherry on top, kill some corporations

View on HN

I've always thought that if online advertising as a business model had been entirely banned from the internet in the 90s, the internet would've looked like a much better place today.

And micropayments would've taken off in a big way.

The only reason why micropayments doesn't really exist today isn't due to technical reasons, it's because advertising is too dominant, and because consumers got trained on expecting everything on the internet to be "free", not realizing they're the product.

Stop the purchase and sale of user data, period. Kill the weed at the root.

Who's selling user data? Do you think Facebook is out there selling it? How do I buy it if so?

not directly, but https://brightdata.com/products/datasets/facebook

There are many indirect ways to get information though. Better would be to ban "discrimination" of customers/humans (no loyalty programs for long term customers/whales or people who know people), and ban of usage of all personal information for decision making except short pre approved lists. Most industries would do fine with "payment received", some maybe could make legitimate cases for also "delivery address" or perhaps "age". Would probably also be good for efficient competition on merit, which should appeal to the groups with enough wealth to use it to accumulate wealth.

Online advertising is what drives the desire for user data. Ban online advertising and the demand for user data withers.

A person can choose to ignore or avoid ads, but having their data bought and sold is solidly out of that person's control.

Or, just ban advertising.

Humans are only now figuring out pointy shoes are bad for people's feet. This species is wrong about almost everything when it comes to its own well being and like pointy shoes - it's a completely unnecessary self-own that barely benefitted anyone.

> ban advertising

I think advertising runs a little deeper into our identity and history than you are thinking. If you have a sign in your window describing your wares, that's advertising. If you're standing on a street corner inviting customers to enter, that's advertising. If you're doing nearly anything to make the world know that your business exists, you're advertising. I'd rather not live in a world where "ad cops" see fit to intrude and opine on such activities. Attacking PII brokers, on the other hand, would do far less collateral damage.

I'm with you on the shoes though.

When I express a slogan, I am fully aware that it lacks nuance and is not to be taken literally.

Pedantry is not a counter argument, it's a deflection. We are not in court.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com