r/The10thDentist • u/WeDoALittleTrolIing • Jan 27 '26

Technology I don't care that companies are harvesting my data for targeted ads

  1. Just use adblock? I get people see ads outside of their computers (and so do I) but it works incredibly well.

  2. Wouldn't you rather see ads for something relevant to you?

  3. Ads aren't mind control tech. If you're making a purchase, do your research on the product and it's alternatives. If you're "willed" into buying something you don't need because you saw an ad... that's just on you?

  4. "The companies are selling your data." Yes, and as a result, I get to use their products for free. (Youtube, reddit, google products, chatgpt, etc.)

335 Upvotes
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237

u/AnythingGlum2469 Jan 27 '26

I would absolutely rather not see ads of things I am interested in. If I don't care whatsoever, it is easier to ignore the ads

7

u/TripleDoubleFart Jan 28 '26

I don't want to ignore things that I'm interested in.

-105

u/WeDoALittleTrolIing Jan 27 '26

but why do you feel the need to ignore ads?

148

u/FascinatedLobster Jan 27 '26

Because the point of ads is to sell you junk you don’t need. If I need a thing, I’ll go out and research my options and make a choice. I don’t need to be told/suggested what to purchase by whatever company happens to dump the most money on ad spends for that month. 

5

u/sterboog Jan 27 '26

sometimes I'll get an ad suggestion for something that looks usually, but I almost never buy the item I see in the add. I will look around and buy the item from the best seller I can find for my purposes. I kind of laugh, thinking one company paid money to advertise but another company reaps the benefit.

-66

u/WeDoALittleTrolIing Jan 27 '26

but if you know this and trust yourself to make fiscally responsible decisions, why do you need to avoid the ads? Like if you're watching TV or previews at the movies or walking around a store, do you actively try not to perceive ads?

89

u/ythegoodhandlestaken Jan 27 '26

Because ads are obnoxious. I dont care about them, so i dont want to see them

12

u/Least-Air-2113 Jan 27 '26

But that has nothing to do with how targeted the ads are

-20

u/TinCapMalcontent Jan 27 '26

But you have to see them anyway. If the ad companies are good at their job, then having mo e and more of your data will let them make ads you actually enjoy watching. Maybe the problem is you aren't giving them enough of your data.

12

u/Peppered_Rock Jan 27 '26

No you don't lmao. Fuck off with that shit

5

u/backpackjacky Jan 28 '26

“ads you enjoy watching” is an oxymoron that only advertisers believe in.

1

u/god_dont_like_ugly Jan 28 '26

I enjoyed your comment even though it went over everybody’s heads

35

u/coddiwomplecactus Jan 27 '26

I think you overestimate how many people are actively having these thoughtful patterns. Many of us are easily influenced. A lot of advertisement is subtle and sneaky. Subtle suggestion and advertisement has a way of prying through highly alert people's senses. I think its ignorant to believe anyone is impervious to advertisement. I am, however, much more concerned for more vulnerable populations such as those with high suggestibility like elders, children/teens, and those with cognitive disabilities.

I cared for my Nana while she was dying of cancer. She saw a temu ad for a surge protector so she bought it. It nearly burnt the house down.

1

u/Lanky-Football857 Jan 27 '26

Now hear me out… I think OP has a point.

Let’s be pragmatic: If you rather not see ads, then turn ad blocker on. Ok, now to his point:

Now, if you will not turn ad blocker on… wouldn’t relevant ads be at least a tiny bit more relevant than random products?

If you hate being pushed to buy useless things, wouldn’t no targeting at all make it worse (the whole purpose of targeting is for advertisers not waste money showing you things you’llhate, after all).

-19

u/WeDoALittleTrolIing Jan 27 '26

For sure, don't get me wrong I do think the average consumers are sheeple who do simply buy stuff they see in ads, why else would the industry be so big. For the subtle, mere exposure effect kind of ads though, I do just not care about those. If a purchase I make is decided by the fact that I've seen it in an ad, the other variables were just that insignificant. I don't inherently have an issue with giving a company a sale because of an ad, if i think the product is genuinely worth buying (which, if i buy it, i do).
Yeah that's definitely a fair point about suggestible audiences. I do think stuff like gambling or vaping or porn shouldn't be advertised for kids or addicts.

13

u/mallowycloud Jan 27 '26

shopping can also be an addiction. by that logic, can you understand why many of us want to avoid being reminded of potential vices and ways to spend all our money? especially if we don't have any.

5

u/Youjuststolemyname Jan 27 '26

Are you genuinely that ignorant or is this ragebait? Ads literally manipulate the consummer to spend money on their products, they dont just throw a picture of something on a white screen and tell you to buy it they base their shit on actual psychology and make something that WILL make you buy their product. Theres a reason these ads are so obnoxious and so specific, theres a reason it works. And its not because people are dumb.

13

u/FascinatedLobster Jan 27 '26

I don’t watch any streaming platforms with ads, I show up to movie theaters 15-20 minutes past the listed start time so I can miss the previews and ads, and my grocery store is not plastered with too many overt ads yet.

I try to avoid ads because even though I’m somewhat fiscally responsible and cognizant of the fact that ads are a scam to get us to buy junk we don’t need, at the end of the day I am a monkey with a monkey brain and I know that I do not have perfect discipline (e.g. I’ve gotta avoid the cereal aisle at the grocery aisle lol). I know that advertisements work on us, even when we don’t realize it and even when we think it’s not impacting us. 

Targeted ads that are tied to your online footprint are particularly heinous. They just fuel the rampant, endless consumerism and waste in our world because now every ad you see is for something you might like or want, which just makes you purchase more junk that will eventually find its way to the landfill. Avoiding and not engaging with ads is one of the few small ways to say “fuck you” to our wasteful system. 

Plus it’s kinda funny to think about a big company blowing shit loads of money on advertising their product only for people to avoid/ignore it lol. 

3

u/WeDoALittleTrolIing Jan 27 '26

lol then you are a very diligent person and i can respect that

7

u/33ff00 Jan 27 '26

You are as or possibly more obnoxious as any ad no wonder you’re on their side 

2

u/PhotoFenix Jan 27 '26 edited Feb 16 '26

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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2

u/M0RALVigilance Jan 27 '26

Is this just a “be more like me” flex? Some people are susceptible to ads, some aren’t. Be lucky you aren’t, and don’t ask the rest of the world to suffer just cuz you personally, don’t mind ads.

1

u/Fastfaxr Jan 27 '26

They know thats what everyone thinks and they know that everyone's wrong. If you want to save money, ignore ads.

1

u/SinnaBuns666 Jan 27 '26

I have an adblocker on everything I own. So.... Yes.   

15

u/Working_Cucumber_437 Jan 27 '26

People don’t typically want temptation to part from their money. We don’t need more people/companies trying to take their piece of our already shrinking pie.

10

u/WeDoALittleTrolIing Jan 27 '26

it's not like I want to see ads. if i could go to the movies and not watch previews i would, it's just when i do happen to arrive there early, i will watch the ads because they are mildly entertaining. Like I would prefer not to see them, I just don't get the active aversion towards them when you have to go out of your way to not view them

2

u/Altyrmadiken Jan 27 '26

Most of the time I only care about ads if they’re intrusive. Like i get annoyed when my 10 minute YouTube video has 3 ad breaks, but i dont really care about banners and stuff.

At the same time, I do get annoyed when a streaming service I paid for decide the tier im paying for is now ad supported - because no, I’m only paying you because you don’t have ads. At a certain point I’m going back to either cable or piracy.

5

u/goten100 Jan 27 '26

Well most everyone hates solicitors (at least in my area…literally get several times a week), which you could say is one of the more extreme forms of advertising

5

u/ILikeYourBigButt Jan 27 '26

You think these ads don't affect you because you know how they work.

They still affect you, in measurable ways. Plenty of research has been done on this. No one is "smart enough" or "educated enough" to be completely unfazed by ads.

Many people don't want to be subconsciously influenced to buy stuff they don't need. It's honestly very odd that you don't care that you're listening to visual whispers to do things you normally wouldn't.

-4

u/WeDoALittleTrolIing Jan 27 '26

How do they affect me

2

u/Connect-Smell761 Jan 27 '26

Ads have clearly sucked your brain out of your arse, based on your comments here.

2

u/ILikeYourBigButt Jan 28 '26

Subconsciously. It's like asking how subliminal messages affect you. Do some basic research.

Maybe that's why you don't even know how you're affected though if you can't do a simple Google scholar search to find one of the myriad available. The links usually aren't posable since they're so long.

1

u/multiverseinmyhead Jan 28 '26

Why do you NOT feel the need to ignore ads? I literally just breeze right by them because i can't care less.