Comment by glenstein

It's automated data processing at scale rather than a local mom and pop country general store. The profit seeking, decision making, management culture driving decisions is a fundamentally different relationship. Also I don't think store owners do that?

Rather than presupposing an analogy to something importantly different, I would propose that the steelman would be along the lines of noting that ads and hyperpersonalization are effective at meeting and predicting your needs, and steering you towards an interpretation of your own needs that finds their fulfillment in deepening a consumer relationship. And if you get steered into lock-in with one company's ecosystem, you get the convenience of a stack of vertically integrated services.