On Boycotting Facebook

[MineralMan]

91. OK. They're selling data about what I do to advertisers.

But, I never even look at FB ads, much less click on them. So, the money they get helps keep the site going so I don't have to pay to use it. I'm OK with that. Ads don't affect me on Facebook.

DU does the same thing. It allows ads to appear on the site to anyone who doesn't contribute to the site. That helps pay to keep DU online. Apparently, DUers who don't get a star don't care that ads appear, or they'd contribute a little bit to make them go away.

Over-the-air broadcast TV and radio operates the same way. It sells ads to cover costs and generate profits. People watch or listen. Apparently, enough of them patronize the advertisers to keep the ads coming. It's a standard operating model. Broadcasters present programming that attracts certain demographic groups and then they present those demographic groups to prospective advertisers.

Magazines do something very similar. They publish articles that attract a demographic group so they can sell ads, which pay for the magazine's operation and make a profit. Subscription fees don't even come close. Newspapers operate on the same model.

Internet websites, like Facebook, do similar things. They're better at discovering the interests of their users, though, since they can track user behavior. Every search you make on Google provides information about your interests. So, Google can put ads on its site and sell ads to others through the AdSense program or other programs. Other websites can make money by letting Google put targeted ads on those websites. That's how DU does it.

Every company that needs to attract people's eyes, but that doesn't sell anything directly to its users has to generate income in other ways. Selling advertising is one of those ways. Google and Facebook, along with many others, tracks what its users do, where they go, what they search for, etc. That way, they can sell targeted groups to advertisers. How else would they generate revenues?

People won't pay to use a search engine or a chat platform. They will barely pay to use a discussion forum. DU is a good example. Some people, like me, contribute annually, but my contribution doesn't go very far. DU is relatively cheap to operate, really, but takes time from its owners, who would like to make something for their time. To cover the gap, DU has monetized the site with ads, showing them only to those who don't contribute. DU has a demographic to attract advertisers. Not a great demographic, but a demographic nevertheless.

So, what is the difference between Facebook and all those other entities that sell advertising to make a profit? Nothing, really.

Amazon has a different model. It sells stuff. Directly or indirectly. So, it advertises the stuff on its site. It doesn't need outside advertising, because it has stuff to sell, along with a huge web hosting and cloud presence.

Hosting websites costs money. Hosting huge websites costs lots of money. It's a business.