Dear AdTech, We Need to Talk

TL;DR

AdTech sold tickets to our attention and kept the money. The relationship is over. From here: my data stays mine, my attention has a price, and if brands want to reach me, they can ask. That is Personal Sponsorship.

Dear AdTech,

We need to talk.

Actually, no. I need to talk. You need to listen for once.

This is not working anymore. I have tried. I really have. I accepted your cookies. I clicked "I agree" 4,000 times. I sat through your pre-rolls. I let you follow me around the internet like a desperate ex who "just happened to be in the neighborhood."

But I am done.

You say you know me. You do not. You think I want hiking boots because I googled hiking once. That was for a work email. I do not hike. I barely walk.

You say you are personalizing my experience. My experience is 47 ads for the thing I already bought. I do not need six more.

You say it is a fair trade: free content for my data. Fair enough, but I never saw the trade. I just saw the ads. You saw my location, my searches, my health questions at 2am, my political curiosity, my bad shopping decisions.

You say you are connecting me with relevant brands. You are not connecting me with anything. You are selling tickets to my attention and keeping all the money.

So here is the thing: I am not looking for someone new. I am done being in that kind of relationship.

From now on, I decide what I share. I sell my own attention. I buy the media I actually want, when I want it. No subscriptions. No commitments. No one tracking me in the background.

My data stays mine. My attention has a price. And if brands want to reach me, they can ask.

It is not me, AdTech. It is definitely you.

Do not call. Do not track. Do not "re-engage."

Abra,

A consumer who got wise

P.S. This is the story Qadabra is building in public: Own your data. Sell your attention. Buy your media. One line at a time.