I do think there's a reasonable argument for ads, since people don't always know what they could be looking for [1]. Independent magazines can serve a similar purpose, but the difference is between an organization that claims to be unaffiliated with the manufacturer, and needs to be constantly policed to make sure they aren't lying about it, and just being up-front about your affiliation, and only needing to be constantly policed to make sure you aren't lying about the product itself.

Unfortunately, web ads suck. Because there isn't enough Gatekeeping(tm), I can't buy things from web ads, because the probability of it being a scam is too high.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_mLxyIXpSY

If they didn't know what they could be looking for, perhaps they didn't really need the thing in the first place. If the product is good enough, then it should grow in usage through word of mouth.

I'm very anti-advertising but I think from a production standpoint this is yes and no. Without advertising, it doesn't make sense to put in the capital expenditure to create new products that require a high upfront cost because there's no demand for it. Advertising is used to create demand. Under a different economic model, this feature of the production environment would not be as necessary.

Perhaps the capital expenditure shouldn't have been made in the first place. Our earth is careening towards an environmental cliff. We don't need people finding more ways emit CO2 into the atmosphere. If people really need the thing they'll find it and word will get around.

I agree to a great extent. We produce a lot of stuff that isn't necessary or is designed with excessive packaging, un-ecofriendly elements that may be replaceable, and is intentionally designed to reach obsolescence quickly. I despise our system, I'm just elucidating its internal logic.

This exactly, most of this stuff will just end up taking up space in someone's basement for 20 years used maybe once or twice. Its not only a waste of money but raw materials and energy

Full disclosure, I run ad blocker, I love my ad blocker.

I get what you're trying to say, but here's a counter example. I have a hobby of astrophography. I live in a rural area without many other people nearby interested in the stars, much less a highly technical hobby like astrophography.

Asking on message boards like cloudynights, or reddit gets you a lot of well meaning beginners offering advice outside of their skill level.

I'm currently building an observatory and I need input on which mount to use in my observatory. I don't have a good concept of what to buy for it as I've only dealt with really beginner mounts and I'm not a beginner anymore, and there's no astrophography retail stores within travel distance. Online advice is poor and hard to weed out those who are beginners meaning well and those who actually know what they're talking about.

However, to pull us back to what we're talking about here, I get a magazine for the industry called Sky and Telescope and it has ads. To me, ads are one of the best things about that magazine because it lets me know what options I have that I wouldn't otherwise be aware of, or have any way to compare.

Though to be fair, ads in a magazine don't spy on you, don't infect your computer, don't move and steal attention and don't follow you around. But I think there is a place for targeted, well behaved ads.

I get what you are saying, and as a young hobbyist back in the day I loved perusing ads in specialist magazines. These days though I'm a much more informed and involved buyer, and have found that ads are usually not a great indicator of the best product or service for a particular need. I don't agree that online advice is worse than ads. It's a matter of doing the legwork to find the right place online for a particular interest, and also cross-referencing multiple sources to avoid getting caught by astroturfing. Ads are biased by their design and nature, and in most cases the placer of the ad has zero interest in making sure you choose the best product. They want you to buy their product even if it's not the best fit.

Why not go to a university website with an astro dept and email some people?

It makes sense in isolated situations, like Netflix recommending content based on previous content you liked on their platform. I think it becomes creepy once that data leaves the domain where I originally generated it.

Is that really an ad though? A recommendation on the platform itself isn't an ad IMO.

It is and many get paid for it. You think those top prime picks are most viewed/best rate.. no they are picked by an editor for a variety of reasons some include clauses in deals or money spent/relationship with the studio.

That’s not how Netflix works. Netflix pays a one time fee for content to be in its platform. It’s not a pay per play deal like Spotify.

If nothing else it is an ad to coerce you into watching more shows on Netflix.

That’s definitely an ad