So you are about to watch a video reporting on the California fires, or the building collapse in Marseilles, or an earthquake in central Italy, or something else horrible: and then you have to endure a happy jolly insurance or cell phone ad for 30 seconds. A. inappropriate. B. Out of sync. C. Manifest greed.

 

I wish web sites had someone who oversaw when these were permissible: happy reunion with lost puppy, okay, that is fine. Dozens of dead people and thousands of lives ruined, so wrong.

 

So you are about to watch a video reporting on the California fires, or the building collapse in Marseilles, or an earthquake in central Italy, or something else horrible: and then you have to endure a happy jolly insurance or cell phone ad for 30 seconds. A. inappropriate. B. Out of sync. C. Manifest greed.

 

I wish web sites had someone who oversaw when these were permissible: happy reunion with lost puppy, okay, that is fine. Dozens of dead people and thousands of lives ruined, so wrong.

Welcome to the world of targeted advertising. It's not what's being read/watched but who is reading/watching.

 

But these things will get smarter in time. As ads are able to use machine learning to gauge the content of the well, content you're watching, they'll be able to better refine what kind of ads they display and keep the correct tone.

 

In other words, it's not really the fault of your ABCs... it's a limitation of the technology we use at this point. People tend to think that technology is a lot smarter than it really is at any given point in time (the old "science vs. magic" thing). If you see something weird or inappropriate in technology, there's a good chance it's because technology is stupider than you think it is.