This is just about user choice and freedom from dark patterns.
If you want tracking and targeted ads you are still free to enable that option.
All others are asking for is a chance to opt out of targeting. I don't see why having that as an option is so bad.
If ad targeting was such a great thing for users Facebook/Meta wouldn't have to fight tooth and nail to prevent people having nothing more than an opt out.
Well then openly ask users for consent. EU law does - in absolutely no way, shape or form - forbid targeted ads. What it does is it forces companies to specifically ask for consent before collecting data for such things and people must know that they're consenting to data collection specifically for ads.
I unironically enjoy non-targeted ads. Every time I see one that has nothing to do with my interests, I know that my meticulously tuned home network and browser settings are working.
1.) I have a work computer that is basically unprotected because it only has Chrome with a very lacking extension whitelist. It lives on its own VLAN because my regular one blackholes all requests to MS and this made my employer not so happy in the past.
2.) My cookie autodelete + adblocking setup means I have to click the "reject cookies" consent on YT once per session. Except one of my filters break the form and it's invisible. My lazy workaround is to disable ublock, click reject and reenable it so the video actually plays. During this ritual I catch a 1-2 second glimpse of a YT ad.
Diluting the value of advertising is a great thing! If it is truly a waste of money to buy advertising, manufacturers won't spend on it, and then none of us will have to watch dumb adult diaper ads, or pay extra money for our adult diapers to cover the advertising budget.
The ad industry has succeeded in conditioning me to hate ads in general. So, let them waste money; hopefully the takeaway will be buying less ads in the future. If it means that some ad companies go out of business, that's even better.
If you enjoy targeted advertisement you can freely consent to companies tracking you. This is fundamentally about consent and how it's given, not targeted advertisement per se.
Of course, companies can still target ads based on where the ad appears, so it would be silly for adult diaper companies to advertise on, say, blogs about children.
Otherwise, it's just like every other form of advertising ever, yes. Rather than have ad companies know everything about me, I gladly choose more generalized ads.
No different than the commercials on broadcast tv before targeting.
Remember that in total no more diapers are sold regardless of these commercials, they just cause consumers to buy a specific brand. If advertising diapers no longer works, they’ll all just stop advertising and be better off.
