(Bloomberg) -- Reddit Inc. spent more than a decade known as the internet’s edgy bulletin board, a site where mostly anonymous users could post memes and share wild opinions on topics ranging from investing advice to Taylor Swift’s love life. It was also a service many advertisers tended to avoid.Most Read from BloombergTurkey Plans Istanbul Taxi Surge to Tackle ComplaintsIntergenerational Housing Could Help Older Adults Combat LonelinessAs Rural Hospitals Shutter Maternity Wards, Urban Ones Fol
  • mark@programming.dev
    1·
    4 months ago

    Good god! That was a good laugh 😂. Desperate to advertise to people who don’t want to be advertised to. Exploiting activity history of anonymous users? Uh… that’s the whole reason people post anonymously. Because they don’t want to be associated with their activity. How exactly is this a good strategy, again?

  • deranger@sh.itjust.works
    0·
    4 months ago

    Reddit is winning over advertisers by showing that it’s different than other internet platforms, which often rely on users’ identities and personal information to target ads. Instead, Reddit is targeting people based on their interests, relying on the site’s deeply detailed communities — called subreddits — to match advertisers with potential customers.

    Knowing which subreddits I’m following IS using my data, assholes.

    Edit: I’m probably wrong about what they’re doing, see below.

    • tyler@programming.dev
      2·
      4 months ago

      I don’t see where it says they’re using your data to see which subs you’re following. It says they’re matching advertisers to subs. E.g. you visit mechanical keyboards you get mechanical keyboard ads…

      I mean that most definitely are using your data, but that is not a prerequisite for what the article is about.

    • Shiggles@sh.itjust.works
      1·
      4 months ago

      Is it? I know it goes further than this, but the idea of serving ads based off what users are subscribed to feels like one of the least awful ways this could be implemented. The same way your feed is generated, your pool of ads is drawn. It feels wrong to say this, but this doesn’t really bother me.