Episode 232: The Advertising Scorpion

November 7, 2023

Central Thesis

Ad-supported media, exemplified by "Shit River" (Amazon), uses manipulative advertising practices and monopolistic control to extract wealth from consumers and third-party sellers, undermining fair markets and ultimately harming society.

Key Arguments

• Advertising as Manipulation

Advertising preys on consumers' desires and manipulates them into purchasing goods they may not need. The co-worker's desire to see ads to "decide what [they] might want to buy next" illustrates how thoroughly advertising has infiltrated individual consciousness. Jim argues that repeating company names lodges them in the brain, slowing thinking and creating undeserved reputations.

• "Shit River" Monopoly

The Shit River has achieved a near-monopoly in online retail through tactics like "member shit" (Prime membership) and manipulating search results. This effectively forces sellers to use their services and pay exorbitant fees for advertising.

• The Hidden Tax

The cost of free shipping and other "member shit" perks is ultimately borne by consumers and sellers in the form of inflated prices. The Shit River is not providing a benevolent service, but rather extracting wealth via a "hidden tax."

• Algorithmic Price Fixing

The Shit River uses algorithms to monitor and prevent sellers from offering lower prices on other websites, effectively engaging in price fixing and suppressing competition. The email quoted in the transcript shows a clear attempt to intimidate sellers into raising their prices.

• Advertising's Destructive Nature

Like the scorpion in the parable, advertising is inherently harmful and destructive. It poisons everything it touches, from news and entertainment to politics, and cannot be reformed. The only solution is eradication.

Notable Passages

• "The advertising market has turned to a complex financial marketplace. Where your eyeballs are bought and sold. The attention economy is organized to just grab hold of your brain using all of these manipulative techniques. It's actually undermining our democracy. They are effectively private governments. And if we don't get a hold of them, then they will increasingly govern us."
• "If you don't pay, you don't get put in a place on the site where the consumers click... paying the piranhas in the shit river for advertising is more like paying a mobster for protection to keep you safe."
• "Advertised products are 46 times more likely to be clicked on when compared with products that are not advertised... meaning choosing not to advertise is not really an option at least for people who actually want to sell some shit."
• "It was in the advertising divisions' nature as the proverbial scorpion to poison organic search results. Getting angry at advertisers is natural, but ultimately futile. It's just their nature to fuck things up. They can't do anything else."

Rhetorical Approach

Jim uses a blend of approaches:

• Personal Anecdotes

Shares stories from his own work history to illustrate the growth of the Shit River.

• Satire and Nicknames

Uses satirical language and nicknames like "Shit River" and "AliphBets" to mock corporations. The "shit member" riffs have a distinct flavor.

• Analogy

Employs the parable of the scorpion and the frog to illustrate the inherently destructive nature of advertising.

• Quoting Experts

Cites Matt Stoller's reporting from the "Big" newsletter and excerpts from FTC legal complaints to bolster his claims.

Connections

• References the Department of Justice's lawsuit against "The Searchies" (Google), mentioned in Episode 217: Chopping At The Golem
• References Matt Stoller and his "Big" newsletter.
• Alludes to the book publishing industry and its historical relationship with "The Shit River."
• Uses the parable of the scorpion and the frog.