Comment by tartoran
1 day ago
If the vast majority of people recognized ads and skipped them as more technically minded people do, they'd either not do that or step up a notch and make them even harder to spot. The reality is that these dark patterns do work for a large part of the users. We're the lucky few who can stay away though it is taxing and tiring.
> If the vast majority of people recognized ads and skipped them as more technically minded people do
People definitely do this. When I worked for a large social media company, we almost always had ads in position 2. People noticeably (in the aggregate data) spent less time with this position in the viewport.
But honestly, most people are just extra impressions/revenue for most advertisers, there's a much smaller number of people who drive ~all of the conversions.
Or at least we’re arrogant enough to think it doesn’t affect us.
It does affect us quite a bit. This situation makes us have to think hard, makes us be very wary of what we click on or read and sometimes bites us as well. I personally find ads extremely tiring such that I mostly avoid add riddled products/sites and always use ad blockers. Quite on the contrary, the vast majority of users aren't even bothered by ads, they've been accustomed to them. My main point of the comment wasn't to be arrogant but to say that most users don't care.
The sickening truth is that most normals don't turn their attention in another way even when they recognize an ad for what it is.
Why should they if they’re buying some commoditized item on amazon, for example? I bought an ergonomic ice pack for my knee this morning, something I couldn’t find in the store near my house. Why should I scroll past the first, cheapest, decent looking item that meets my needs? As a moral duty, perhaps. At any rate, advertisement doesn’t necessarily mean scam.
When you pay for an advertised product you're also paying for their advertising budget hence most likely not the best price/quality. Sure, not 100% true all the time, sometimes there's a liquidation of stock or something like that.