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Targeted ads are one of the world’s most destructive trends. Here’s why, by Arwa Mahdawi

Summary:
They have led to a proliferation of fake news and clickbait, fuelled surveillance capitalism and normalised pervasive tracking and data-mining. Then there’s their effect on democracy ...2019 article.  I remember when I was new to the internet I looked at some speakers and then after that there was speakers everywhere. It felt spooky, like big brother, when I realised how I was being watched. But personalised adverts are not better for anyone. They have turned the internet into a surveillance nightmare. The fact that marketers are able to serve me ads for yoga mats the moment after I’ve booked a yoga class is not worth trading my privacy for. It’s not worth being stalked online by a yoga mat I once clicked on. It’s not worth having my every move analysed by a million activity trackers.

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They have led to a proliferation of fake news and clickbait, fuelled surveillance capitalism and normalised pervasive tracking and data-mining. Then there’s their effect on democracy ...


2019 article. 

 I remember when I was new to the internet I looked at some speakers and then after that there was speakers everywhere. It felt spooky, like big brother, when I realised how I was being watched. 

But personalised adverts are not better for anyone. They have turned the internet into a surveillance nightmare. The fact that marketers are able to serve me ads for yoga mats the moment after I’ve booked a yoga class is not worth trading my privacy for. It’s not worth being stalked online by a yoga mat I once clicked on. It’s not worth having my every move analysed by a million activity trackers. It’s not worth having my phone battery drained by the data-guzzling ads that render many parts of the internet borderline unnavigable.

The Guardian 


Targeted ads are one of the world's most destructive trends. Here's why, by Arwa Mahdawi


Mike Norman
Mike Norman is an economist and veteran trader whose career has spanned over 30 years on Wall Street. He is a former member and trader on the CME, NYMEX, COMEX and NYFE and he managed money for one of the largest hedge funds and ran a prop trading desk for Credit Suisse.

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