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Maybe targeted web advertising would be more successful if it chose its targets more wisely: (From A Modern-Day Ada Lovelace)

It never works. No matter how much mainstream, ad-targetable, genderblind information I provide, more than half of the targeted ads I see are for weight loss (usually in terms of dress sizes or low calorie stereotypical craving snacks), snake oil anti-aging secrets and stretch mark removal. Today, facebook tried to give me a $10 off coupon at diapers.com and “acne care in a chocolate”.

I see a very simple solution to avoid the ire of increasing numbers of folks online, a very simple option M or F or ‘I’m not telling’ or ‘don’t use this information for ad-targeting’ and the same on ages. But the traditional sales force doesn’t want that, I’m sure. It would break everything they know in marketing, to think we want to be approached as people.