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You sound awfully cynical about this. I see the data collection as part of the service.

They provide a way for people to communicate easily, refine searches and ad displays to interests, and they get to sell the aggregate data.

It's not exactly a bad deal. I certainly don't miss the days of poorly targeted everything.

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How can targeted advertising be a service? It would only be a service if you wanted to buy something but you didn't know what until you saw an ad for it.

I think it's bizarre that anybody who grew up after the '50s would buy anything based on an ad... and yet... I make a living in advertising because it's true.

I'd rather live in a world where it wasn't.

The targeting is the service. They're going to be there anyway, so they might as well be something relevant (or at least inoffensive).

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