Is the transaction successful? It depends on what you count. For Google, the click on the ad brings in a quarter, fifty cents, or even a dollar or two. That’s a success. Naturally, the lead generator also makes money. And so it looks as though the system is functioning efficiently. The wheels of commerce are turning. Yet from society’s perspective, a simple hunt for government services puts a big target on the back of poor people, leading a certain number of them toward false promises
