Why do so many advertisers think I own a dog? We have like a private, digital panopticon and they still serve me ads for dogfood for dogs I don't don't have.
this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2026
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I have to use facebook for work every few months. All sandboxed and shit. They seem to think I'm in the market for conceal carry yoga pants. Which I fine with, because that means they have no clue about my gender, hobbies, or political alignment.
I used to have a chrome extension that basically poisoned my data by clicking on every ad in the background while hiding the ads from me. I forgot what it was called. I don't use Chrome anymore.
It also benefitted the websites I visited by improving their click-thru while also hurting the advertisers by costing them money for ads that would never be effective.
You have to remember we're the minority.
There's already enough effort put into sabotaging AD blockers. If everyone used AD blockers, there wouldn't be enough effort on Earth to keep corporations from destroying them left and right.
Our safe-haven of an AD-free internet only exists precisely because most people just put up with it.
Having said that, I don't like things like Sponsor-block. I'm perfectly fine with the mega-corporation not getting my money, but I absolutely do want to make sure the creators who are putting cool things out there are getting paid.
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It's not about the ads to buy things. That's part of it for sure, but it's more than that.
Google, Meta, Microsoft, etc. want your data, your habits, routines, opinions, etc, so they can influence the way you think and behave and understand the world.
There's a clip I saw recently of Peter Thiel saying they could never get people to vote for the things they want to do, so instead they are using technology to change things.
Even if you block ads, if you still use platforms owned by tech mega-corps, they have your data. Sure you might not see the targeted ads, and so you think you're coming out ahead, but you don't realize that every piece of content you see between the ads you've blocked is being filtered to influence the way you think about the world.
The data has more direct consequences when it comes to machine learning algorithms to keep you on the website and funnel you into a personalized echo chamber.
The epitome of this is TikTok, it's algorithm was the only thing that set it apart from other short video apps. Youtube is a video host with an integrated recommendation algorithm, Tiktok is a recommendation algorithm with integrated video hosting.
It's crazy how the algorithm isn't even good, it's just effective at generating watch time on average. It tries to push you towards addictive trash constantly, whether you watch it or not. I learned rust and got "why rust sucks" and "why rust is the best language" about 25 times now despite never watching videos like that, because maybe THIS time I'll get ragebaited.
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It works well enough to get returns on ad spend.
I mean, the rich are benefiting from all the ad spending which is all that matters! /s
People really need to remember that you're paying for the ads regardless of if you see them. The only people who lose out are those who show the ads and giving the amount of websites these days that are solely built around showing ads, I really have no sympathy for them.
The bigger question no-one seems to ask is, how much cheaper would products be if they weren't spending trillions on ads in the first place?
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It’s absolutely working. About 50% of the population is susceptible to these ads
It's all so stupid. I can't remember the last time I got an ad for anything I was interested in buying. It's all just whoever paid the most to shove their garbage in your face. Why even bother with all the spying at that point?
Before I installed blockers, I only remember one time ever clicking a targeted advertisement and making a purchase (it was for a 'What We Do in the Shadows' t-shirt). That was after browsing the web everyday with no blockers for like 15 years.
And don't forget to use cash, all those credit cards and payment apps are there to spy on you.