This screenshot perfectly captures everything wrong with digital advertising.

4 out of 5 ads are for care homes.

I'm in my twenties…

We talk about precision targeting. AI-powered optimisation. Real-time bidding. Yet here we are, serving retirement home ads to someone who won't need one for another 40+ years.

The irony? These ads probably hit their KPIs.

100% viewability ✓

In-view time exceeded ✓

Target audience reached (technically, I am human) ✓

Over a 100% CTR rate as I clicked a few times in disbelief ✓

But it’s all completely meaningless.

This is what happens when we optimise for the wrong metrics. When algorithms chase cheap impressions over actual relevance.

The promise was simple: Digital advertising would be smarter. More relevant. Less wasteful.

AI-powered precision.

The reality is AI-powered garbage.

Black box algorithms chasing platform metrics. Zero transparency on where ads actually run. Advertisers paying for the illusion of performance.

Here's what needs to change:

Stop accepting "it's AI” as an answer. Demand placement-level reporting. Measure incremental impact, not last-click attribution. Question every "AI-optimised" campaign.

Because right now, we're not buying media. We're funding Google's retirement home.

And I'm still decades away from needing one.

No more black boxes. No more platform ROAS games. Just honest, effective advertising.

The machines haven't learned anything. They've just gotten better at hiding the waste.

Advertisers must know where their money is going and the actual results they're getting. It's that simple.

PS. I don’t normally browse Spanish sites for an electronic lottery. I spent some time this morning looking at all of the advertising absurdity across MFA sites, which should 100% be on an exclusion list, but it seems there’s an awful lot of tier 1 advertisers still spending…