I got a little frustrated with how long my blog was taking to load, so I removed the advertising.
The advertising was never about money for me. It was an experiment to see who amazon thought I am.
My web advertising and recommendations are a strange phenomenon.
It's like the uncanny valley.
At first the ads seem ridiculous. As ads become slightly targetted they get more interesting. Then they get creepy. Then they become natural and interesting.
Years back this was called the My Tivo Thinks I'm Gay phenomenon.
We all do things that don't represent our central intentions. I sometimes buy items on amazon for my infant relatives. And amazon seemed to decide that I had children.
We all do things that aren't typical. I bought a DVD copy of the original Star Trek episode "Dagger of the Mind" that was parodied on an episode of South Park. Amazon decided that I was obsessed with Star Trek.
I have found some wonderful ridiculous things on amazon.
I got my lab scale (for cooking and legos) on amazon.
I got my cattle prod from amazon.
Most of the kinky books that I own I got from amazon.
By having advertising on my blog I was hoping that they would learn me and recommend other fun things.
Being at the leading edge of the uncanny valley gave some puzzling results for products that I can't imagine owning:
Safety Cat Women's Self Defense Keychain
FURY Tactical SDK Self Defense Keychain 5.75-Inch with Pressure Tip (Black)
Siamese Cat Tied Up - Cat Cartoon or Comic - JP Animal - WATCHBUDDY® DELUXE TWO-TONE THEME WATCH
Famous Stars and Straps Young Men's Know The Ropes Tee
But it was really starting to get there. I found myself really wanting:
Ringers Gloves 353-09 Rope Rescue Glove, Black
I might try again at some point in the future. But for now I am ending the advertising experiment.
