undefined | Better HN

0 pointsMirioron7y ago0 comments

>If nobody can legally do behavioral targeting in Europe, it levels the playing field.

No, it doesn't. All it means is that Europe will become even less relevant in tech than we already are. Just because European companies can't do behavioral targeting doesn't mean companies outside of the EU can't do that and the EU has no jurisdiction over them, if they can even find out that this is going on in the first place. All it will mean that European tech companies get out-competed.

Another thing you're not considering is that the EU has 30+ languages in it. I'm sure it will be great to see advertising in languages you can't even read. That will drive home the point that only France and Germany matter even more.

>Meanwhile, companies still have their advertising budgets; they'll just have to spend money on untargeted ads.

Advertising budgets don't exist in a vacuum. Their size depends on how much money they can make based on those ads. If it costs more to advertise than it brings in as sales then you just don't advertise. If targeted ads aren't a necessity then neither are online advertisements.

0 comments

vharuck7y ago

>Another thing you're not considering is that the EU has 30+ languages in it. I'm sure it will be great to see advertising in languages you can't even read.

I'm no web dev, but couldn't sites use the HTTP header `Accept-Language` to pick appropriate ads?

kijin7y ago

Contextual targeting still works. No ad agency in their right mind will run a French ad on a webpage written in German, or show an Italian ad in an app where the default language is set to Swedish. None of this requires tracking individual users across websites and apps.

Besides, as other commenters have pointed out, there is no concrete evidence that targeting individual users is any better (in terms of bringing in more sales) than targeting the combination of region, language, website topic, and on-page keywords.

If you're so worried about the sustainability of European ad agencies, maybe you should stop fearmongering and start trying to improve contextual targeting technology to such an extent that it provides even more value to your customers than behaviorally targeted alternatives. If and when GDPR-like regulations arrive in other parts of the world -- I'm pretty sure the noose is getting tighter in the U.S. as well -- your European agency will be in a perfect position to grab market share there.

MirioronOP7y ago

>No ad agency in their right mind will run a French ad on a webpage written in German, or show an Italian ad in an app where the default language is set to Swedish. None of this requires tracking individual users across websites and apps.

Tell that to all of the ads I used to get and sometimes still get that are in Russian on sites that are in English or apps that are in English.

>your European agency will be in a perfect position to grab market share there.

They will be long dead by that point. Even if they weren't they would be in no place to grab market share, because every region is going to have their own unique rules which means that the biggest companies will profit the most.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse