Is the internet getting rubbish these days?
Discussion
I may just be getting old. But it strikes me that Google searches aren't as useful as I remember. Seriously important companies are now talking about trying to disable ad-blockers at the same time as websites like the BBC news (Breaking news: Here is the headline you have just read) and Pistonheads own forum seem to be happy to dump annoying pop-ups on your screen (yes! I know I can sell my car on PH. Now f
k off!).
Every other website or app now seems to be an excuse to mine your personal data to sell on to someone else, Govt plans to store data for a year will probably put paid to streaming US shows & bootleg music, Youtube automatically runs onto the next video (although HD is an amazing improvement!), Ebay is increasingly a nightmare for sellers, TED talks used to be scienc-ey and interesting but now seem to be more preachy.
To me it's like some kind of optimisation overkill. Like when they would compress all of the dynamic range out of radio mix to make sure it was the loudest thing on radio, or reduce your favorite hard gum or strong mint to some common-denominator sugary garbage. Bah Humbug, it's all st.
k off!). Every other website or app now seems to be an excuse to mine your personal data to sell on to someone else, Govt plans to store data for a year will probably put paid to streaming US shows & bootleg music, Youtube automatically runs onto the next video (although HD is an amazing improvement!), Ebay is increasingly a nightmare for sellers, TED talks used to be scienc-ey and interesting but now seem to be more preachy.
To me it's like some kind of optimisation overkill. Like when they would compress all of the dynamic range out of radio mix to make sure it was the loudest thing on radio, or reduce your favorite hard gum or strong mint to some common-denominator sugary garbage. Bah Humbug, it's all s
t.eldar said:
Come up with a better funding model. You'll make a million.
What he said.It seems to me that for years, even decades you could get away with selling Internet based business to investors on the promise of potential from all those users, but that ship has sailed - these days if you want people to back your site/service you better make it pay somehow.
Is it a bit rubbish, yeah probably - if you want to find something on the web you might have to wade through 3 pages of Google results before you find the information you want, and not just results for services to sell you something vaguely related.
Your Social media will bombard you with targeted ads and sell your info to people to send you even more targeted ads.
Yeah PH is going to push it's services to you, because you can only make so much pushing banner ads and clickbait.
Consumers just won't pay for content though, when The Times put up its paywall people gasped - "you're telling me that the content you charge £1 in paper format isn't made available free of charge in a digital format - how dare you?!?" The Sun tried to follow suit and has just given up. They've got to make money some how.
The mainstream parts of the web (and I include PH in that) have unsurprisingly got more mainstream as internet access has shifted from a slightly geeky oddity to the primary means of... just about everything.
It's still an enormously powerful resource, though. You just need to learn how to avoid the crap. "The internet", if viewed as a whole, is an enormously expensive thing to keep going. As traffic volumes have increased exponentially in the last few years, people have had to find ways to cover the costs.
It's still an enormously powerful resource, though. You just need to learn how to avoid the crap. "The internet", if viewed as a whole, is an enormously expensive thing to keep going. As traffic volumes have increased exponentially in the last few years, people have had to find ways to cover the costs.
What's really, really, really gripping my st is the focused marketing based on click activity.
I arranged a house viewing via a certain TV celebs site (the one with massive norks) and now my browsing experience is peppered with adverts including her smug chops smiling at me menacingly. fk off Beeney, the last thing I'm going to now is actually give you money!!!
It's a model of marketing that surely has the opposite effect. I am possibly in the market to use an estate agent in the next few months - I now will not use that one.
t is the focused marketing based on click activity.I arranged a house viewing via a certain TV celebs site (the one with massive norks) and now my browsing experience is peppered with adverts including her smug chops smiling at me menacingly. f
k off Beeney, the last thing I'm going to now is actually give you money!!!It's a model of marketing that surely has the opposite effect. I am possibly in the market to use an estate agent in the next few months - I now will not use that one.
dave_s13 said:
What's really, really, really gripping my st is the focused marketing based on click activity.
I arranged a house viewing via a certain TV celebs site (the one with massive norks) and now my browsing experience is peppered with adverts including her smug chops smiling at me menacingly. fk off Beeney, the last thing I'm going to now is actually give you money!!!
It's a model of marketing that surely has the opposite effect. I am possibly in the market to use an estate agent in the next few months - I now will not use that one.
Interesting to note. I think they call that remarketing.t is the focused marketing based on click activity.I arranged a house viewing via a certain TV celebs site (the one with massive norks) and now my browsing experience is peppered with adverts including her smug chops smiling at me menacingly. f
k off Beeney, the last thing I'm going to now is actually give you money!!!It's a model of marketing that surely has the opposite effect. I am possibly in the market to use an estate agent in the next few months - I now will not use that one.
CrutyRammers said:
Google, facebook et al are advertising networks. They're not doing it for your benefit, you are simply the product they can sell.
Exactly this. As has been said before, nothing is free and servers cost a lot of money to keep running. If you're not paying for it, then you're the product.dave_s13 said:
It's a model of marketing that surely has the opposite effect. I am possibly in the market to use an estate agent in the next few months - I now will not use that one.
The best marketing companies must have data on when this will be worth it. I imagine only biggish companies with their own marketing departments can make the best use of it, however. Others must be throwing their money away and hacking their customers off!If PH get 11.99 for annoying, say, ten thousand forum users is that a good return for internet advertising?
Another thing that's increasingly common (and annoying) is loads of websites interrupting my browsing to ask me how I like the site and would I like to fill out a survey. Grrr.
Edited by glazbagun on Monday 16th November 14:40
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tilley441 said:
this sort of stuff really pisses me off, over the top headlines and crap adverts
The "This one wierd trick", "iPhone's for 5$", "dermatologists hate her!" stuff is, I think, like the really badly written Nigerian scam emails. They're designed to put off anyone with half a brain so that only those more susceptible to being duped into handing over their cash will bother clicking them.Another annoyance is the way the Daily Mail is so popular- saying something short and controversial about minorities or whatever is going to get more clicks (and thus and revenue) than a carefully researched and painstakingly constructed post on, say, waitbutwhy.com ever will. I'd be curious as to how much of their traffic is from those who consider themselves to be DM readers vs those who are annoyed/offended by the thing.
ooo000ooo said:
glazbagun said:
Youtube automatically runs onto the next video (although HD is an amazing improvement!)
.
Youtube ads that play for 30 seconds that you can't click to get rid of after 5 seconds annoy the b.
ks off meAxionknight said:
ooo000ooo said:
glazbagun said:
Youtube automatically runs onto the next video (although HD is an amazing improvement!)
.
Youtube ads that play for 30 seconds that you can't click to get rid of after 5 seconds annoy the b.
ks off meviscountdallara said:
glazbagun said:
Youtube automatically runs onto the next video
Go to the 'settings' wheel on the video. Turn autoplay off 
HTH 
It has got st, certainly a lot worse than it was. As cringy and hipstery as this will sound, i think it's got a lot more "mainstream" and it was better when it was seen as just for nerds and shutins because it was a lot more raw and interesting.
Don't get me wrong i'm not some luddite, I have a 5" slab of glass and plastic in my pocket that can get me all the knowledge of the human race and that's always a good thing, its just giving a platform to the sort of societies rejects that inhabit Facebook's public comments sections has soured the experience somewhat.
piracy was also easier back then because it was fking difficult and rife with viruses
t, certainly a lot worse than it was. As cringy and hipstery as this will sound, i think it's got a lot more "mainstream" and it was better when it was seen as just for nerds and shutins because it was a lot more raw and interesting.Don't get me wrong i'm not some luddite, I have a 5" slab of glass and plastic in my pocket that can get me all the knowledge of the human race and that's always a good thing, its just giving a platform to the sort of societies rejects that inhabit Facebook's public comments sections has soured the experience somewhat.
piracy was also easier back then because it was f
king difficult and rife with virusesglazbagun said:
The "This one wierd trick", "iPhone's for 5$", "dermatologists hate her!" stuff is, I think, like the really badly written Nigerian scam emails. They're designed to put off anyone with half a brain so that only those more susceptible to being duped into handing over their cash will bother clicking them.
Another annoyance is the way the Daily Mail is so popular- saying something short and controversial about minorities or whatever is going to get more clicks (and thus and revenue) than a carefully researched and painstakingly constructed post on, say, waitbutwhy.com ever will. I'd be curious as to how much of their traffic is from those who consider themselves to be DM readers vs those who are annoyed/offended by the thing.
Yeah, clickbait sAnother annoyance is the way the Daily Mail is so popular- saying something short and controversial about minorities or whatever is going to get more clicks (and thus and revenue) than a carefully researched and painstakingly constructed post on, say, waitbutwhy.com ever will. I'd be curious as to how much of their traffic is from those who consider themselves to be DM readers vs those who are annoyed/offended by the thing.
t. I purposely don't bother click stuff like "this" now because you know it won't be worth it.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff