Nobody should not be able to know how successful the ad campaign was for every single person.
Additionally my browser is set to clear cookies on exit, so even if I make a mistake, just turn it off and on again to wipe. I have exceptions set for the three sites I like to stay logged on to (via Page Info in Firefox).
(and simply no Facebook, obviously)
If you have a personal conversation to a friend about a party you had when you were five you don't expect to hear details referenced by a busker the next day at a park you frequent.
Edit: I was arguing with no one.
Targeted ads can be made tailored to you to tell you the exact lie you want to hear to generate the expected outcome.
It can be accepted to certain exempt with products maybe, but what about political advertisements?
You would have to imagine there would be an uptick. However, in my own mind, the targeted ads don't influence me to spend as much money as the broad-based brand awareness type. There's a term for that style of advertising which I can't remember right now but it basically entails plastering "Tide" over everything so that the next time you think of detergent, you think of Tide.
Recently I was seeking a way to record surround sound in surround sound. If ads had led me to that it would have been great. Instead I spent a week seeking and experimenting until sibling upon a semi abandoned commercial solution.
In practice ads don't know my desires well enough.
This doesn't mean that traditional forms of advertising are the most ideal. But, when it comes to commerce, we often need to curb the ideal in favor of the consumer and their individual concerns.
To make up an example, when I walk into a movie theater, I prefer to see ads for movies that I might actually go see. If I have kids, I might be interested in the latest G-rated film. If I don't, that probably won't tempt me.
Location alone doesn't tell you that info. I kind of like getting at least some specificity and personalization with my ads.
There's no need to know your age, ethnicity, gender, or anything else to be able to market to you while you're at movie Y.
Even more accurately, there's not even a reason to know your location, if they simply market according to the movie you're already paying to watch.
But hey, I handle my own bans on tracking. I don't care that everything that this persona does online is tracked and associated. But then, I have other personas.
