Do you think the online advertising ecosystem involving multiple technologies wielded by ad networks, social media companies and publishers is getting too complicated for users to understand?

I genuinely do not understand the question.

The bombardment of online ads is just lunacy at this point. I'd like to watch a YouTube video without it being constantly interrupted by a screeching commercial advertising gods only knows what. I'd also like to visit a site without seeing a banner ad advertising something worryingly similar to something I Googled yesterday. Everything online feels so invasive nowadays.

I wouldn't really know as I use Adblock to avoid being bombarded with ads I'm not remotely interested in watching.

I voted 'don't know' because I didn't quite understand the question...

No, of course not, they are just getting crazy, not the users. Look, it doesn’t matter anymore, because they only can advertise most of the attempts into a vacuum. Or do you have any much money left to buy anything of those stupid unnecessary things they offer to you with their advanced technologies? I guess, not so many…lol

@Toshihiro.

'video ads that you cannot skip while watching YT videos.'

Take control of your internet and this problem disappears. Ad blocking software is free, effective and easy to use.

As for the question...who cares. I don't encounter ads.

Instead of the option "I don't know", a simple "eh?" or "huh?" would have been more appropriate.

What worries me most are media buy-outs by multi-billionaires.

The whole point of advertising, and also its twin, political propaganda, is that the target DOESN'T understand how it works and is not even conscious of its working on them. And, as Edward Bernays explained and Josef Goebbels demonstrated, the more ubiquitous the message however empty or even pathological, the more it takes on the perception of 'reality' for the unaware. We see that very clearly now in the Western blanket of condemnation of Russia for doing what America does habitually and has been doing routinely for greater than a century. Lying is one of Homosap's oldest talents and technology to increase its effectiveness for the benefit of the liars just a natural development which, like 'rocket science', outstripped the average Human intellect long ago. The question that we need to ask ourselves is "Is ANYTHING in the general perception of current Human Reality real?". I suspect very little, 'really'...

A slightly odd question. Many drivers have no idea how their car works, but it doesn't stop them driving it. Most consumers don't understand what goes into getting the food products on to their supermarket shelves - the politics of labelling ingredients, the rough deal farmers get, how processed food is produced - but they buy it and eat it.

How many users can explain the TCP/IP protocol? Few, but it doesn't put them off surfing or gaming online.

Despite all the cookies and co-called 'AI', most ads are still irrelevant, so whatever software they are using to track and target you, you don't need to worry about it too much. Ads are also quite easy to ignore, either with software, using options, or simply not seeing them, even when they are on the screen.

Personally, I find the government mandated requirement to click on an 'accept/decline cookies' box a bigger irritant than any tracking technology that may be attempting to (very badly) second-guess my next purchase of [chocolate] cookies. It's so bad, I'm amazed that people pay for targeted advertising, but if it keeps stuff free, yay.

Ultimately, getting services for free courtesy of adverts is a good deal. Not movies, but definitely tech. Would you want to pay a subscription fee for each of your social media services, a unit price per e-mail or per message, a texting-style fee per tweet and a fee for your browser instead? That would soon add up.

It has all become ridiculous.

in my opinion, there's just too much ads everywhere. I miss watching videos and reading articles on the internet without being bombarded by unwanted and targeted ads. What really grinds my gears the most are video ads that you cannot skip while watching YT videos.

I genuinely do not understand the question... so maybe that's a yes?