advertising
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advertising is a common business-model for websites, especially silos, but also on some IndieWeb sites, however sometimes with downsides for users such as exploitation, surveillance, worse UX, and encouraging sites to depend on unreliable search traffic.
IndieWeb Examples
- zeldman uses The Deck to serve ads
- daringfireball uses ???
Aaron Parecki uses ethicalads.io
Silo Examples
Facebook uses their own ad system.
Example ad for example.com:
Criticism
Ad models can be exploitative
Advertising based business models are to be avoided as they are exploitative.
Counter argument:
Nonetheless many companies who provide a "free" service, are actually ad-based businesses
- Most silos
- All known aggregators
- All known general web search engines
Tracking and surveillance
- 2018-08-15 NYTimes: Are Targeted Ads Stalking You? Here’s How to Make Them Stop
Funds misinformation
- Criticism: helps fund misinformation web sites: https://disinformationindex.org/2019/09/the-quarter-billion-dollar-question-for-ad-tech/
May cause UX failure
Lazy loading ads which reflow the page (i.e. an ad at the top that doesn't take up space to begin with to avoid an awkward blank area at the top of the page) can cause UI elements to move and thus may result in the user clicking on something they did not intend to. E.g. (likely artificially constructed example for illustrative purposes)
Unreliable or false metrics
- 2018-12-26 https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1078003966863200256.html
The numbers are all fking fake, the metrics are bullshit, the agencies responsible for enforcing good practices are knowing bullshiters enforcing and profiting off all the fake numbers and none of the models make sense at scale of actual human users.
Encourages vulnerable dependence
Though this article blames Google, the larger actual problem is a false sense of confidence in a singular dependence on "organic search traffic" source for ad-based revenue.
- 2024-04-03 Google Is Killing Retro Dodo & Other Independent Sites
… in September 2023 when Google decided to release an algorithm update that completely obliterated thousands of independent content businesses overnight, and we are one of them.
Since September 2023, Google has hidden our site from millions of retro gamers, reducing our organic traffic and revenue by 85% and causing our business to be on the edge of going under.
- https://social.sdf.org/@mjgardner/112208710212890879
- "IMHO, tying your #publishing business model to #Google search traffic is not very different from tying your online content to a third-party publishing host platform like #Medium or a #SocialNetwork like #Facebook. You’re relying on the network effect from an aggregator whose interests can and do drift from yours. Both are examples of #DigitalSharecropping, a term coined by blogger Nicholas Carr back in 2006: https://www.roughtype.com/?p=634#IndieWeb" @mjgardner April 3, 2024. Emphasis added.
- https://mastodon.social/@lars/112208880378775677
- "@mjgardner Couldn't agree more. I really feel for what he's going through, and Google's continuous enshittification has forced me to move on a long time ago. But relying on a single corporate entity to drive all your income is bordering on negligence. As you say, their interests will inevitably drift from yours.Hope they find a way to a more sustainable model." @lars April 3, 2024. Emphasis added.
Other Criticisms
- 2017-09 TEDGlobal NYC: https://www.ted.com/talks/zeynep_tufekci_we_re_building_a_dystopia_just_to_make_people_click_on_ads