Why online advertising is (mostly) a waste of money...
...So we're listening to a podcast and an advert comes on - each show will have its own cadence, and you'll know roughly how long the ad spot is. If you're looking at your smart device then you'll tap the '+30s' button the right number of times, if you're out walking or similar then you'll ask your voice assistant to 'Fast forward 3 minutes', as appropriate. ...So you're watching YouTube and the pre-roll ads start up, you watch that 'skip' or 'next' button eagerly, either once or twice, and then you're into your video. ...So you're browsing the web and come across a page with content you want to read. If you're smart then you've got an ad-blocker installed, if you're not then you're still only concentrating on the content you wanted. ...So you're watching Netflix or Amazon Prime or (heaven forbid) Now TV and a batch of ads come on before your show: 'Programme resume in 1 min 18s' or whatever