Re:New York Times phasing out all 3rd-party advertising data
by godshatter on Tuesday May 19, 2020 @01:46PM
(#23237820)
If I'm paying for a subscription, then I am the customer, theoretically anyway. Which is why I wish they would take a subscriber-centered approach. If they sent me ads I indicated I wanted to see, then I should be more willing to click on them then some ad trying to indicate how much I really need a left-handed blivet in my life even though I've never indicated any interest in such an item. It seems like it would bring higher click-through numbers for a lot less work. Companies selling left-handed blivets might be hurt, but that's not my concern. But then I don't understand anything about the current system, admittedly. I do everything I can to avoid it.
I am not actually a subscriber though, but I think I might become one for at least a while after this is in place just to try to reward companies moving in this direction. It would be refreshing to be able to go to a news site and not have noscript show dozens of domains in it's list.
I think you misunderstand who the customer is here. What you want is irrelevant. It's what they can get you to pay for.
If you knew what you wanted, you could just type that into a search box. Clearly, the NYT display ads have other purposes. Looking at the home page now, the ones I see are to spark feelings of need and suggest a solution at the same time. Skipping right over the part where I think about needing something and figure out the best way to solve that need.