What gets me is the notion that ads based on my surfing habits are inherently more interesting. They're still ads. Even when I'm shopping for something, the ads are the last place I look (and more often, not at all).
I'm not alone here. Nielsen Online just published a report stating, among other things, that Netizens do not trust advertising. According to Nielsen's BuzzMetrics, the word Web surfers most closely associate with advertising is "false."
Or to quote one of my favorite blogs, Tynan on Tech:
People don't trust ads. They don't like ads. They don't really want to see ads, but they'll put up with them if they have to. (Which is one of my big objections to ZillionTV; giving you a choice of what ads you'd like to see is like giving you the choice of what dog**** you'd like to eat. Would you prefer the chocolate cinnamon dog**** or the raspberry swirl? In the end, it's still dog****.)
This bowl of you-know-what has been brought to you by Google. Enjoy!