Oh, this is such a cliché, like all contemporary geniuses do is maximizing CTR...
Many others are doing R&D for companies producing harmful products (both for humans and the environment, even when they love to make people think they are not eco-unfriendly (looking at you, Elmo Musk)), figuring out how to "maximize profitability", even if said profitability comes from pushing people into debt, or simply keeping silent and inactive on meetings where very harmful decisions are made.
Yes, geniuses working on electric vehicle technology or reducing space launch costs for Elmo Musk are just like the geniuses optimizing ad technology to maximize clickthrough-rate.
You make fun of click-through rates because it sounds stupid and irrelevant.
Now, I’m not saying it’s like building the pyramids, inventing General Relativity, or landing on the moon.
And yes we all hate ads and 99% of them are junk.
But online ads have been revolutionizing the economy. Matching consumers and producers have always been extremely non-trivial and an economically critical activity.
You used to have to go to the mall to discover and buy things. That mall was a huge gatekeeper for producers trying to offer goods on the market and a major point of inefficiency. Now anyone can put up ads and start selling with a vastly smaller distribution budget.
Just think of having a small percentage multiplier on the entire economy. Just think of the implications for social equity - you used to have to be well-connected and well-funded to have any hope of starting a business and getting into Walmart.
