I think lots of ad buys aren’t very smart. Companies seem to be pumping too much money into ads because they have money.
Last week I saw an SAP ad over a twitch stream showing on a wall monitor in an esports bar. That’s either the smartest targeted ad ever (3 out of our table were software types who would be involved in an SAP purchase decision), or just some campaign manager clicking a box that means “put my ad anywhere you want.” The next ad was for twix.
I think if we face a downturn where all of a sudden there’s not money and smart people are trying to spend on ads that have real return, these platforms will really get slammed. I’m not sure what multiplier it is. But I think their leverage in the “BS ad” domain will be more than 1x whatever the downturn is.
I get targeted ads all the time from big consulting companies. It's not about SAP purchasing decisions, they want people to pursue SAP as a career option. In my case, their targeting is right on the money - I just have a better job at the moment
I live in India and I get ads all the time for products and services that aren't even available in my country. Like real estate brokers in Texas and car dealerships in Ohio and property investments in Abu Dhabi. I'm not using a VPN and haven't mucked around with my location settings.
Some of the worst targeted ads I've ever seen are on Reddit and Imgur
On Facebook, spending 5 dollars on promoting a post in India/Pakistan will get you a ton of likes and comments (some of them not great). It's a very easy and cheap way to make your post/ad look more legit or popular, faking "social proof"
Last week I saw an SAP ad over a twitch stream showing on a wall monitor in an esports bar. That’s either the smartest targeted ad ever (3 out of our table were software types who would be involved in an SAP purchase decision), or just some campaign manager clicking a box that means “put my ad anywhere you want.” The next ad was for twix.
I think if we face a downturn where all of a sudden there’s not money and smart people are trying to spend on ads that have real return, these platforms will really get slammed. I’m not sure what multiplier it is. But I think their leverage in the “BS ad” domain will be more than 1x whatever the downturn is.