Okay, so as target ads become the norm, I feel like something unique to what I love about advertising is being lost. Take my scenario: I am chef. I am a graphic design student. I like motorcycles. I recently became engaged. When I look at a motorcycle blog, I really do not want to see ads for (1) Engagement rings or (2) Chef Pants. When I am looking for Kinetic Type tutorials, I do not need to see ads for motorcycle jackets, and so on.

I have always felt that in print magazines well chosen ads actually add to the content of the volume itself. Take for example motorcycle magazines: I have learned of products, tools, gadgets et al that have enhanced my motorcycling experience that were never mentioned in the body copy of the magazine. I have discovered businesses that I would have never have otherwise known about. I have (somewhat falsely) assumed that ads were chosen by both advertising salespeople and editorial staff to make sure that the ads reflect the values of a magazine's editorial criteria. On the web, as advertising matured, it seemed as if this concept (content + ad = complete experience) was going to truly find its potential. However, this has not been the case. My facebook ads constantly try to get me to join a gout study (I mentioned a sore toe, and had the word gout in the topic 2 years ago) and dating sites about divorced women (I'm engaged!). Targeted ads on motorcycle blogs showing women in medical scrubs (work uniforms) creates distraction from the content, and worse, it gives me the impression that the creators of these online magazines/blogs have no true editorial oversight of their own product.
Something has to give. Targeted ads have to grow up, become more refined, and consider what pages they are being view on, not just who is viewing it. Targeted ads right now are the equivalent of the flashing banner ads of a decade ago claiming that I am a winner. In this situation, I am not, and neither is this newest form of advertising.