Comment by cogman10

2 months ago

So does a search engine and 3rd party reviewers.

Further, any store will be pretty highly incentivized to provide a quick list of goods or services offered and likely the prices (most already do this).

I don't need the same ad repeated 20 times to know that Ford sells cars and trucks.

> I don't need the same ad repeated 20 times to know that Ford sells cars and trucks.

Not only that, but the Ford ad of a vehicle driving cinematically across a landscape before disgorging a laughing and implausibly photogenic family does nothing to inform you about the relative merits of the vehicle. Anything specific mentioned in the advert is as likely to be flimflam or only technical truth as not, so nothing mentioned in the advert can be taken as useful purchase-informing fact without further research.

  • Exactly. There's an economic negative to advertising, particularly in the US, because "puffery" is legal. That gives advertisers nearly complete free reign to lie about stuff (especially if they put in a small white text disclaimer that says the things you are seeing and hearing aren't really true.)