Re:Facebook users said no to tracking, and now advertisers a...
by bllguo on Thursday July 15, 2021 @06:36PM
(#27850929)
nobody pays (directly) for Google search but surely most would agree search engines are vital. clearly the advertising business model has enabled certain products in a way that direct purchases could not; to reject the model wholesale seems like luddite conservatism
Re:Facebook users said no to tracking, and now advertisers a...
by corford on Friday July 16, 2021 @03:58AM
(#27853932)
Not what I'm implying. Google has kept the friction & effort minimal (by it's very nature, their search engine advertising is a lot less creepy & personally invasive than FBs). The utility of google search is also high enough that I'm quite sure a decent chunk of people would pay a small monthly sub for it if needed (or offered as an alternative option).
If someone really wants or needs something, they'll find a way to pay for it (directly or indirectly) if access cannot be had any other way. Everything else is "nice to have" until the cost or friction gets a little higher than zero.
The fact that people are increasingly unwilling to "pay for" things like FB seems to suggest these services are not actually _that_ vital despite their high usage figures.