I present a new ex post theory of media content. I use this theory to analysis the effects of rapidly advancing advertising technology. Introducing more accurate ad targeting intensifies product market competition as advertisers compete to serve consumers with precisely targeted needs, and the...

Sending general advertisements with inflationary claims may attract additional visitors with whom an advertiser is poorly matched. This is costly when ads are priced per-click because many visitors (clickers) will not purchase. This renders per-click advertising particularly conducive to the...