Comments on: What if Google Were Evil? Doctorow Asks in Fiction http://battellemedia.com/archives/2007/09/what_if_google_were_evil_doctorow_asks_in_fiction.php?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what_if_google_were_evil_doctorow_asks_in_fiction Thoughts on the intersection of search, media, technology, and more. Thu, 16 May 2013 04:38:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: JG http://battellemedia.com/archives/2007/09/what_if_google_were_evil_doctorow_asks_in_fiction.php#comment-9553 JG Mon, 17 Sep 2007 18:28:12 +0000 http://battellemedia.com/archives/2007/09/what_if_google_were_evil_doctorow_asks_in_fiction.php#comment-9553 <p><i>"I suppose," demured Greg, "that since I frequently patronize the local burger joint, Johnny <b>Rockets</b>, and also enjoy reading Vogue to ogle those fashion <b>models</b>, the personalization system must have conflated those two keywords and mistakenly show me <b>model rockets</b> ads."</i></p> <p><i>Greg continued, slowly but firmly. "I cannot help it if Google has lost its focus on relevance-based ads, starting back in 2007 when they began showing banner ads on YouTube."</i></p> <p><i>The interrogator scratched his head, looking mildly confused.</i></p> <p><i>"Think about it, officer," Greg insisted. "If Google were not so busy going after 'all of advertising' as Eric Schmidt said in the middle of 2007, instead of sticking to just relevance-based advertising, then maybe I would not have had to see all of those irrelevant model rockets ads. As it is, with Google's continued dependence on advertising as 98% of its income, combined with the loss of relevance-focus, it could just be that some model rockets advertiser is paying Google extra money for Google to serve up as many model rockets ads to as many people as possible. I must have been randomly chosen as one of the recipients of this non-relevance-targeted campaign. The reason I am seeing these ads have nothing to do with me."</i></p> <p><i>"Hmm, I see your point. Sir, you are free to go." The interrogator paused, as if searching his memories for something. "By the way,", said the interrogator, "you might want to download Adblock Plus. That might help you get rid of all those non-relevant ads, and avoid accidental run-ins with us in the future."</i></p> <p>lol.<br /> </p> “I suppose,” demured Greg, “that since I frequently patronize the local burger joint, Johnny Rockets, and also enjoy reading Vogue to ogle those fashion models, the personalization system must have conflated those two keywords and mistakenly show me model rockets ads.”

Greg continued, slowly but firmly. “I cannot help it if Google has lost its focus on relevance-based ads, starting back in 2007 when they began showing banner ads on YouTube.”

The interrogator scratched his head, looking mildly confused.

“Think about it, officer,” Greg insisted. “If Google were not so busy going after ‘all of advertising’ as Eric Schmidt said in the middle of 2007, instead of sticking to just relevance-based advertising, then maybe I would not have had to see all of those irrelevant model rockets ads. As it is, with Google’s continued dependence on advertising as 98% of its income, combined with the loss of relevance-focus, it could just be that some model rockets advertiser is paying Google extra money for Google to serve up as many model rockets ads to as many people as possible. I must have been randomly chosen as one of the recipients of this non-relevance-targeted campaign. The reason I am seeing these ads have nothing to do with me.”

“Hmm, I see your point. Sir, you are free to go.” The interrogator paused, as if searching his memories for something. “By the way,”, said the interrogator, “you might want to download Adblock Plus. That might help you get rid of all those non-relevant ads, and avoid accidental run-ins with us in the future.”

lol.

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