People who pay for consumer research type services. "I want a general-purpose systems programming language with a C-like syntax that compiles to native code. It should be statically typed and supports both automatic (garbage collected) and manual memory management." One micro payment later I have a list of links and reviews. In this case the research is the product instead of me.

I've known several people who developed quite a nice product, but felt that promotion and marketing were unethical. They failed to move a single copy, and wound up bitter and disillusioned.

> One micro payment later I have a list of links and reviews

You won't get on those lists nor will you get any reviews without marketing and promotion.

Then your company would be beholden to the Yelp's of the world. Pay up or have your listing removed.

Nobody is even going to know to put you on their list, unless you do marketing and promotion.

As long as a search engine can find your product, so can they. That's their job. Whether they would be able to review every candidate is another matter.

Nobody looks past the first two or three pages in the search results. That's why SEO is a large industry.

I guess the idea is to ban certain types of advertising. It’s a fun thought experiment and practical — it’s why some country roads don’t have billboards and some do.

Going to a conference to promote your product to participants..

Do you allow the shills to shill?

Well, shills gonna shill— I sure wish I promoted my businesses more. It is uncomfortable at times but that’s not really a good excuse to not promote what you know to be good.

I agree that billboards are a form of "visual pollution" that blocks scenic views. But paying for an ad on the side of a bus isn't a problem.

No, I don't think we need to argue about where the line between the two is.

We definitely need to argue about the line. This is the internet, isn’t it?

And, honestly, how do you know? I don’t think it is clear that all cars are fair game for all ads, nor that all billboards should be banned. We might not need a line, but we need criteria for value

> "visual pollution"

I like that framing.