People like getting services at no direct cost, advertisers like selling to those people. While most want services at no cost to them, they don’t like being tracked. Modern ad tech puts people into a kind of human terrarium. Large tech platforms from Alphabet (once Google) and Meta (once Facebook) down the line gather and cross connect absurd levels of data about consumers. When I write about advertising, I cite as my credential that I’m a demon at an ad agency. When I am quoted in media, like Texas Observer, I am a managing director of Push ROI. Most people will not view those titles very differently. For most tech platforms advertising is both Samson’s hair and Achilles’ heel. The source of strength and the single largest vulnerability. All that data collection, benefits the platforms, but no one else. I’ll explain more but first… House Keeping I’m trying a new approach to content syndication. I typically write and publish 1-4 weekly articles. I once syndicated the full text of these articles on large online platforms where people already spent time. In concept so doing maximized distribution while maintaining control over the work. However, as large platforms continue eating the web, it is clear unfettered broad syndication of everything I publish is just feeding a machine I don’t like. This article was written for broad syndication, along with links to my other recent work. I’m also linking to some interesting things I’ve been reading as I believe doing so makes the…Advertising Demon, And Other Stories