# Online Ads & Blockers For this reading response, we were required to install an ad blocker and view how our webpages changed. I installed Ublock Origin and searched for "espresso machines" in Google. Here is what the search page originally looked like: ![](https://i.imgur.com/iB8ql62.png) After turning the ad blocker on, the search page changed to this: ![](https://i.imgur.com/sHB9bWh.png) As you can see, the sponsored ads at the top of the page disappeared. In this specific context, I would not prefer to have these ads blocked. I am searching for good quality, well-priced espresso machines and these ads show me items that I may consider. However, from Marti's article, it is interesting to consider information asymmetry and how it affects searches for items I want. When I look at these results again, I noticed that the espresso machines are being sold by companies that I'm not familiar with, excluding Bed Bath & Beyond and Target. While these companies are not inherently unreliable due my lack of knowledge, it brings about thoughts of potential deception and if I engaged further, I would check to see that these sellers are reliable. As Marti describes, signaling indicates reliable selling, especially through advertising. I would like to note, I am less skeptical of these results compared to ads on a Facebook page trying to sell to me. This reflects the peak advertising effect that Marti discusses due to Facebook being a medium that is consistently "noisy". I also noticed that some ads, such as those from Rakuten, were still displayed on my search page after activating my ad blocker. It's interesting to see that ad blockers don't just exclude all the ads that are shown on the page, but instead seem to initially select a few when activated. This reflects Taylor's discussion of ad blocker companies earning money for not blocking ads from specific advertisers. Furthermore, Sharma's article on the recent incident of GIMP.org leaving malware via a lookalike site reinforces the fear and avoidance of advertisements. If it was so easy to become the top result on a Google search page and lead people to a site serving malware, how could we trust any advertisements we see?
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Home Page COMM 1255 Syllabus Professor Reagle's Syllabus – updated often, so check! Required assignments Wiki tutorial Web search and evaluation Filter and label your email (Sept 30)

12/6/2022
Reading Response Set 2

Nov. 1st – Finding Someone and Living Alone Online dating really can feel like a nightmare. With the rise of online dating applications like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble, dating in the modern age has become a desperate attempt at looking presentable through a screen. As written in Thompson's article, your worth today is based on a profile that is judged 24/7 by distracted and cruel strangers. In addition, I agree that the weight of dating today is heavier than in previous decades due to the widespread practice of finding a partner alone. As described by Thompson, family and friends less often connect individuals to potential partners now, so the recoil from a bad date can feel more impactful. Furthermore, young adults do not inherit certain life-styles, religions, or occupations from their parents and must choose themselves if they desire. The mentioned philosopher Soren Kierkegaard called this anxiety "the dizziness of freedom", which I can agree is an accurate depiction of what choices today feel like. However, online dating is beneficial, as I have found my own girlfriend from an online app. As mentioned in the article, they also serve minority and LGBTQ+ communities, who previously had much harder experiences finding partners. Obviously, the anxiety from online dating and the need to make good impressions has led to exaggerations or lies about oneself. In OkCupid's article The Big Lies People Tell in Online Dating, they share statistics that illustrate how men and women exaggerate features or status to get the most attention. I was surprised to know that this practice did not only cover height disparities, but also income and picture age. It demonstrates that no matter what somone claims about themselves online, it should always be taken with a grain of salt. In Joseph Chamie's article, they depict the change in the number of American households that are a single inhabitant. Living alone seems to be a now more widely accepted practice that has resulted from increased migration to cities and increased labor force participation among women, as well as other factors. The media ages at first marriage are much higher now than they were in 1950, indicating another factor at the large number of people living alone until an older age. I'm curious as to whether online dating has had a notable effect on the number of single person households in the U.S, as dating has become more complicated to navigate. Nov. 4th – Ads & Social Graph Background Ads have become an overused method of promotion by companies that bombard potential customers with extreme amounts of information. As Stokes describes, there are several types of adverts that people see on the web. The first are banner adverts, which are images or animations displayed on a website. There are also interstitial banners that show up between pages on a site before the next page is displayed. Pop ups and pop-unders are also common, where a new, smaller window opens and displays an advert. Floating adverts appear in a layer over the content. Wallpaper adverts change the background of the page that you're looking at. Finally, map adverts show on pages like Google maps and are based on keyword searches for a specific market offering. These are the main types of adverts that Stokes mentions and are utilized by companies trying to promote their brand and sell their product/service.

12/2/2022
Wiki Tutorial Assignment

tags: CDA Testing Area

9/30/2022
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