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The future is bright Mar 30, 2025 Are developer jobs truly in decline? Jun 29, 2024 On Amazon Prime Video’s move to a monolith May 14, 2023 Some thoughts on the latest LastPass fiasco Mar 5, 2023 Working from home works as well as any distributed team Nov 25, 2022 Things to be Thankful for Nov 24, 2022 All developers should know UNIX Jun 30, 2022 Java is no longer relevant May 29, 2022 Automation and coding tools for pet projects on the Apple hardware May 28, 2022 Peloton could monetize these ideas if they only listen May 15, 2022 Tools of the craft Dec 18, 2021 Should we abolish Section 230 ? Feb 1, 2021 The passwords are no longer a necessity. Let’s find a good alternative. Mar 2, 2020 Configuring Peloton Apple Health integration Feb 16, 2019 Returning security back to the user Feb 2, 2019 Adobe Creative Cloud is an example of iPad replacing a laptop Jan 3, 2019 Apple Watch Series 3 is a gem worth waiting for May 28, 2018 I downloaded my Facebook data. Nothing there surprised me. Apr 14, 2018 Facebook is the new Microsoft Apr 14, 2018 Quick guide to Internet privacy for families Apr 7, 2018 Nobody wants your app Aug 2, 2017 I built an ultimate development environment for iPad Pro. Here is how. Jul 21, 2017 TDWI 2017, Chicago, IL: Architecting Modern Big Data API Ecosystems May 30, 2017 I tried an Apple Watch for two days and I hated it Mar 30, 2017 Windows 10: a confession from an iOS traitor Jan 4, 2017 Apple’s recent announcements have been underwhelming Oct 29, 2016 Don't trust your cloud service until you've read the terms Sep 27, 2016 What I learned from using Amazon Alexa for a month Sep 7, 2016 Why I switched to Android and Google Project Fi and why should you Aug 28, 2016 In Support Of Gary Johnson Jun 13, 2016 Files and folders: apps vs documents May 26, 2016 Operations costs are the Achille's heel of NoSQL Nov 23, 2015 We Live in a Mobile Device Notification Hell Aug 22, 2015 Big Data Should Be Used To Make Ads More Relevant Jul 29, 2015 Attracting STEM Graduates to Traditional Enterprise IT Jul 4, 2015 Why I am not Getting an Apple Watch For Now: Or Ever Apr 26, 2015 Apple is (or was) the Biggest User of Apache Cassandra Apr 23, 2015 Microsoft and Apple Have Everything to Lose if Chromebooks Succeed Mar 31, 2015

Big Data Should Be Used To Make Ads More Relevant

July 29, 2015

[caption id="attachment_181" align="aligncenter" width="584"]"Advertising" -- Photo Credit Mathias Klang "Advertising"
Photo Credit Mathias Klang[/caption]

It is 2015 and by now advertising agencies could have figured out the best way to deliver relevant ads to viewers. They have not. Hulu is the prime illustration of this phenomenon.

We canceled our DirecTV subscription and declined to use Comcast for anything more than Internet access for over three years now. When I watch shows on Hulu I get ads that I never act on because they are so irrelevant.

The most irrelevant ad on Hulu is the one advertising Hulu Plus itself. I am already a subscriber and they should be able to tell. The second most irrelevant ad is the one telling me, repeatedly, that they got their hands on the full collection of “Seinfeld” episodes - which I am already four seasons into!

While watching Hulu it is also not uncommon for me to get advertisements for shows that are only available to cable subscribers. But I am not, and I made it clear that there is no circumstance under which we will subscribe to cable television. Shows not available on Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime might as well not exist. There is not going to be a conversion in response to Xfinity TV ads on Hulu from yours truly.

Hulu product advertisements leave much to be desired as well. Why advertise Microsoft products to someone who uses Apple products and Linux ?

There is so much Hulu could do to create more relevant ads for me. Hulu knows well enough who I am and what my interests are. They know my IP, they can search the Internet for my name. They can give me a way to disable irrelevant or annoying commercials.

The age of Big Data and voluntary surrender of privacy should have brought more meaningful and more relevant advertising. The knowledge the advertisers have about consumers is unprecedented. They should use it.