• flamingo_pinyata
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    4 hours ago

    I definitely bought a lot of things because of ads. Not directly though, I don’t go around clicking on online ads even if one slips through the blocker.

    Just being exposed to the idea that some product exists is an ad. Reviews and comparisons. Seeing a brand name in the wild. A product being recommended by someone I consider an authority in that specific field.
    It all provenly works on me.

    And I don’t really regret it, how else would I even find out what exists? Go to the store and just buy whatever the seller recommends? Did people do that in the past before mass advertising?

    Edit: I just realized this is exactly what Amazon is trying to do. Push generic “amazon option” products which have no independent sales outside of the platform.

    • tyler@programming.dev
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      8 minutes ago

      Being exposed to a product that exists is not an ad. An ad is explicitly something that a company has paid to make visible to people. If a company isn’t paying for it then it’s not an ad, no matter how much it sounds like one.

      And yes, going to a store and trying shit out is exactly how it should go. Reading reviews and talking to others is exactly how it should go. Companies paying to manipulate people of the world using psychology is what ads are. Not seeing a product being used in the wild.

      a paid notice that is published or broadcast (as to attract customers or to provide information of public interest)