One month after a US court ruled Google had an illegal monopoly on online search, the tech giant is back in court defending allegations it has also monopolised internet ads.
To put it another way, the difference is push vs. pull. A catalogue is a pull offering: the person looking at it is doing so by choice, because they’re interested in what it offers and want to buy something (or at least window shop). An online ad is a push offering: it’s presented to people who did not choose to see it, are not interested in it, and just wish it would go away and let them get on with what they’re actually trying to do. Pull advertising is (usually) acceptable. Push advertising is not.
I’d argue the catalog could be seen as advertising though.
“This is what you can buy from us” and the language in those catalogs presents everything in the best possible light.
Catalogs were almost always free, because it marketed products to consumers… Aka advertising.
You’d open one only when you wanted it.
A database with various characteristics being the main component and the advertising text not being that is better, yes.
To put it another way, the difference is push vs. pull. A catalogue is a pull offering: the person looking at it is doing so by choice, because they’re interested in what it offers and want to buy something (or at least window shop). An online ad is a push offering: it’s presented to people who did not choose to see it, are not interested in it, and just wish it would go away and let them get on with what they’re actually trying to do. Pull advertising is (usually) acceptable. Push advertising is not.