JustDave
Well-known Member
Since the inception of the internet, advertising has saturated computers more intensely than television, but it required a change of tactics. Since computer users have a bit more control over where they want to go and what they want to see, it isn't always necessary to sit through 5 minute long commercial breaks. Those are still there in places like Utube because of its similarity to television. But most of the time we we can just cancel the popups when we are researching causes of or aches and pains, and with some experience, we learn to do it so fast that we seldom see what the popup even wants us to buy.
OK, so popups replaced commercial breaks but with a greater frequency to compensate for our skills at cancelling without looking, so the guys on Madison Ave, found a new tactic in click bait, and I've noticed this dominating my screen more than any other previous annoyance. Instead of popups, some sites have permanent mini screens with rotating click bait, and they can't be cancelled. They feature come ons like "See what happened when these girls at the beach wore the wrong top," or "How to beat the pot odds in the casino," and "Watch what happens when this wild predator meets a defenseless puppy."
If one grabs your attention, you are treated to a long story that requires lengthy or never ending scrolling, seemingly without ever getting to the actual point, while you scroll past hundreds of ads. If you want to get to the point of the story, you sometimes spend time reading part of an ad, just to discover it's an ad and unrelated to the click bait's story. Sometimes you forget what the story was supposed to be about. Finally, you get bored and cancel the whole thing, and try to remember what information you were trying to look up in the first place.
It feels like the whole purpose is just to annoy because all this distraction never leads me to buying another thing I don't need. Click bait is just a concept use to sell ad space and get hits. It's hard for me to understand that this translates into much profit. It must, however. There is no other reason to put all of that there and annoy people to death.
I think advertisers are mean sociopaths with no interest in the well being of others. I hate them. But I guess advertising qualifies as a profession.
OK, so popups replaced commercial breaks but with a greater frequency to compensate for our skills at cancelling without looking, so the guys on Madison Ave, found a new tactic in click bait, and I've noticed this dominating my screen more than any other previous annoyance. Instead of popups, some sites have permanent mini screens with rotating click bait, and they can't be cancelled. They feature come ons like "See what happened when these girls at the beach wore the wrong top," or "How to beat the pot odds in the casino," and "Watch what happens when this wild predator meets a defenseless puppy."
If one grabs your attention, you are treated to a long story that requires lengthy or never ending scrolling, seemingly without ever getting to the actual point, while you scroll past hundreds of ads. If you want to get to the point of the story, you sometimes spend time reading part of an ad, just to discover it's an ad and unrelated to the click bait's story. Sometimes you forget what the story was supposed to be about. Finally, you get bored and cancel the whole thing, and try to remember what information you were trying to look up in the first place.
It feels like the whole purpose is just to annoy because all this distraction never leads me to buying another thing I don't need. Click bait is just a concept use to sell ad space and get hits. It's hard for me to understand that this translates into much profit. It must, however. There is no other reason to put all of that there and annoy people to death.
I think advertisers are mean sociopaths with no interest in the well being of others. I hate them. But I guess advertising qualifies as a profession.
, all I can hope for is Less of it sadly.
