title: Because of the numbers
lang: en

> As explained, the official reason why we are observed like Chinese citizens is patently absurd. We do not want better ads. Now they say, AI will make us click. Ads never worked and never will. No one clicks. We could install ad blockers, but that won’t help. But even without us clicking at all, somehow the ad system works. No one knows how, because it all happens in a black box. Only Facebook and Google know the real numbers. But no one questions how it works. Why? Because of the numbers.
>
> Google’s and Facebook’s revenues grow astronomically. Users and profits grow year over year. They are beyond comprehension, they are already bigger than reality, and they still grow. Meanwhile competitors—other social networks, search engines and newspapers—collapse. The once distributed architecture of the Internet is controlled by a handful of winners that take it all. And that is whom we believe. The winners. The losers are just jealous.
>
> There is no doubt that ads are bought. The more they observe us the more excited are the advertisers. The ads are bought. The ads are placed. The ads are distributed. And somehow the ads are clicked. But nobody knows anyone who clicks them. It is only strange if you think about it. Don’t think about it. The revenues grow, the profits grow, the intrusion is real and they are smarter than everybody else. They have data to back it up.
>
> No one cares if the business model really works.
> 
> <cite>*[Designed in China, Assembled in California](https://ia.net/topics/designed-in-china-assembled-in-california)* ([cache](/david/cache/939435322c95d2d7036908d4b4c21ddc/))</cite>

Probably the biggest lie of our industry.

*[Cargo cult](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult_programming) advertising?*