I’m wondering the same about the Spotify free version. I don’t mind the ads or the cringy Spotify ads either, but I don’t understand why a couple of companies pay so much to have me hear their crappy ad that doesn’t sound like it was planned for sound only use every hour… It’s probably very cheap to advertise on these platforms I guess…
The world isn’t so binary 🙂
It can be both targeted towards your demographic and a less-than-optimal (but not “mindless”) way to burn through a campaign’s budget.
In advertising we have the idea of “frequency caps” which are the number of times one person will be shown an ad. Every modern buying platform supports this feature so either it’s set to something reasonable and not working (maybe an ad blocker is fudging with tracking tech) or not set at all.
…and it’s likely deliberate because the worst thing that can happen is the agency or buyer entrusted with the budget for this campaign doesn’t spend all of the money so they’d rather spend it on your 20th viewing than not spend it at all.
So it’s a bit of both 🙂
People have answered why you’re seeing the ads, but not why you’re seeing them so frequently.
Digital advertising is often based on a bidding system. Advertisers compete to show you those ads, and the highest bidder gets the ad placement.
For your example, it’s likely those companies are either bidding really high to get in front of you, or their specific targeting requirements (demographics, interests, etc) don’t have a lot of other competition. Either way, Hulu serves up those same ads because it makes them the most money.
If I’m Nike and I want to bid $100 for every ad that runs on Hulu, while all the other shoe brands are only bidding $20, then Hulu is going to want to show my ad a whole bunch of times.
**Please read this entire message**
—
Your submission has been removed for the following reason(s):
* Straightforward or factual queries are not allowed on ELI5. ELI5 is meant for simplifying complex concepts (Rule 2).
—
If you would like this removal reviewed, please read the [detailed rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/wiki/detailed_rules) first. If you still feel the removal should be reviewed, please [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fexplainlikeimfive&subject=Can%20you%20review%20my%20thread?)
Latest Answers