“It’s quite a tasteless pursuit, but it seems as though it’s a pursuit driven by desperation, like they are casting around looking for ways to make money online,” WIRED reporter Kate Knibbs said of the YouTube obituary pirates.
“In the past, we’ve studied social media ads as if they’re just like a billboard or a print magazine ad when they’re not,” said advertising professor Matthew Pittman. “You’re seeing an ad from any number of sources.”