Targeted Advertising Considered Harmful

[alexxkay]

Among the recent spate of discussions about ad-blocking, I came across a reference to this paper from two years ago, which, while fairly dense going, seems both thorough and correct. Recommended to those who are interested in the topic, or in economics in general.

Comments

[oakleaf-mirror.livejournal.com]

TL;DR: When an ad is displayed for the whole world, the whole world can evaluate the claims, and keep them honest. When an ad is targeted just to me, I have to do that evaluation on my own, and am less likely to catch shady dealers.