this post was submitted on 29 Jun 2023
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Is user watch data really that valuable?
Then again, the massive amounts of money spent on marketing have always been baffling to me. I don't think I've ever bought something because of an advertisement.
Billions upon billions of dollars and decades of research have been spent on marketing and advertising because it works.
They don't necessarily want to convince you to buy their product directly. What they want is for you to constantly be reminded of their brand so that when you decide to buy a product, your first thought might be their product. If you're thirsty and you walk into a store, they want you to think of Coke. If you're hungry, they want you to think of McDonald's. Even if you don't really like it, maybe you don't buy their product, but you're thinking of it, so maybe you'll talk about it and remind someone else of it.
Watch data is valuable because it lets them know how to keep your attention so that you'll watch more ads. It tells them which ads to associate with you personally, and which videos to put which ads on for maximum effect.
I think the basic idea is that data collection is a form of uncompensated labor. The matter of what it's worth isn't the issue, but the fact of it being worth anything to anyone at all, and it being taken from you with little to no choice in the matter. Not to mention bought, sold, traded, etc.
Yes, a lot of it is tied to agreeing to a EULA, but we all know that just about anything we click on or do on our phones and computers is tracked, stored, sold, and used to make money in dozens/hundreds of ways, EULA or not.
Side note, this is incredibly difficult to believe, tbh.
I view the value as being important because I see it as an exchange: use of a service for data about how one uses the service. I do think the fact this exchange is happening should be made clear, vs. the current allusion that a service is free, but I doubt many people would care.
Exchanges should be fair though (or at least both parties should be well informed when they are unfair), which may not be the case now.
You're probably correct. When I think of advertising, I think of the in your face completely out of place advertising, which turns me off of products and is often not even targeted correctly (as in, something I would never buy).
But things like "please turn off AdBlock or support us on X", premium upsells, product descriptions and packaging, and hidden advertising (fake user reviews, """sponsored""" reviews, posts on social media) are all also forms of advertising which I have been influenced by in the past, even if I didn't realize at the time.