Advertising Quote by Tristan Harris
“For any company whose business model is advertising, or engagement-based advertising, meaning they care about the amount of time someone spends on the product, they make more money the more time people spend.”
About This Quote
Source Speech: Keynote at Center for Humane Technology, 2018
Advertising models profit from longer user engagement, incentivizing designs that capture attention often at the expense of well‑being.
In simple terms: More time on a product means more ad revenue.
Design responsibly to respect user time.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- app development
- media planning
- policy making
- digital wellness programs
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- How can companies balance revenue with user welfare?
- What alternatives exist to attention‑based monetization?
Profit motives can conflict with user health.