News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on I wish tech companies knew more about me. Parent comment

Re:I wish tech companies knew more about me by malfist on Thursday November 05, 2026 @03:44PM (#50384245)
Once you realize you are the product on Amazon's search page it makes a lot more sense. Over half the listings are paying amazon for higher placement into that search. It's long since stopped being a search experience that works for the shopper.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:I wish tech companies knew more about me by dale_glass on Thursday November 05, 2026 @04:07PM (#50384468)
No, that makes no sense. Sure, my data is valuable for advertisers, but:

The washing machine advertiser doesn't want to to spend money to show me an ad for something I'm not going to buy, and even Amazon doesn't benefit because they get something out of each purchase, so they should want to show me stuff I want to buy too.

There's just nobody that benefits from bad ad selection.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:I wish tech companies knew more about me by seki285 on Thursday November 05, 2026 @04:16PM (#50384559)
...except Amazon :)
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:I wish tech companies knew more about me by janalsncm on Thursday November 05, 2026 @04:43PM (#50384869)
Please explain how Amazon benefits from bad ad selection to an equal or greater extent than good ad selection.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:I wish tech companies knew more about me by seki285 on Thursday November 05, 2026 @05:01PM (#50385099)
They don't need to compete because they have a monopoly, so offering a worse service keeps the advertiser spending more money.
[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:I wish tech companies knew more about me by malfist on Thursday November 05, 2026 @08:40PM (#50387080)
You do another search, and they get more revenue
[ Parent | on HN ]