Let me show you in practical terms - I've searched for some neat cases for a Pixel 9 Pro (for a family member). I'm now receiving targeted ads for phone cases on Instagram on my Galaxy S25.

- Ads I'd like: More cute cases for either P9Pro or a Galaxy S25 I'm watching the ads on.

- Ads the company is pushing: iPhone-only cases which I can't use anywhere.

Quite staggering the incompetence of targeting those :)

Sounds like the targeting is just not specific enough yet.

I'd hope "show cases for android phones on an android phone" to be something rockstar engineers at ad companies figure out rather easily.

Or the ad content isn't being made specific enough. I know that at least for the cheap Aliexpress tier stuff, they'll make the same basic design for 12 different phones, so theoretically the same product listing might include iPhone and various Android variants, but the description might fail to reveal that.

I'm sort of surprised that the industry isn't 70% print-on-demand these days-- just say "we have a nice sturdy case design for the top 500 phone models, and upload your own art".

"Ads I like" would be like informative commercials about workshop tools, like how they were in the 70s.

Not emotion focused ads, which is what The Man wants me to see to make me buy his stuff.

I don't watch ads but if I did I would prefer a "what, how, price" setup.

There is little difference if we are talking cost per click. But many ads are still sold on cost per view

Advertising is not limited to companies trying to sell an innocuous product.

Ads you like vs things you'll actually buy are two very different things.

Samsung can't make money off me buying vintage tools or computer parts. I'd love to see those ads.

But Samsung can hit me with new washing machine ads, or ads for big businesses pushed thru their galaxy store.