How digital ads are undermining the election

Our new series explores ad tech, misinformation, and the addictive behaviors platforms exploit to make them irresistible. View this email in your browser  |  Manage newsletter subscriptions 07.29.20 Online platforms play a crucial role in American politics and daily life, but the news usually focuses on the most visible stuff: inflammatory tweets, content moderation policies, account bans. Over the next few weeks, WIRED will take readers a step deeper, with two new series focusing on the hidden architecture that keeps this system—and all its pathologies—humming. From the sprawling ad tech industry that underwrites online content to manipulative interfaces designed to keep users clicking, these stories will illuminate the complicated and often misunderstood mechanisms powering our digital world. Plus: Help us learn how much trust, or not, people have in products such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Amazon. We spend much of our waking lives using these platforms. Take our survey and tell us what you think of them. TAKE THE SURVEY   RE: TARGETING Follow the Money: How Digital Ads Subsidize the Worst of the Web BY GILAD EDELMAN From Covid conspiracies to election scams, automated advertising software plays a large—and largely unseen—role.   WATCH OUT How to Spot—and Avoid—Dark Patterns on the Web BY ERIC RAVENSCRAFT You've seen them before: the UX ploys designed to trick you into spending money, or make it nearly impossible to unsubscribe. Here's what to look out for.   Take Our Survey on Privacy and Misinformation Social media, video, shopping: We spend much of our waking lives using platforms that profit from our behavior, and sometimes expose us to misinformation along the way. How much do you trust these products? Take our survey and tell us what you think.     This e-mail was sent to you by WIRED. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, wired@newsletters.wired.com, to your address book.   View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe or manage your newsletter subscriptions