Regarding the headline, arstechnica A/B tests headline variations and then eventually settles on a winner. The more clickbaity headline ALWAYS wins.
Completely speculating here, but I’d guess the authors write reasonable headlines and then some editor picks a terrible reformulation.
Sometimes (as in this case) you can see what the losing title was by looking at the URL: facebook-targeting-ads-by-age-gender-violates-calif-anti-discrimination-law
Much more reasonable, which is why it got less engagement and lost.
Completely speculating here, but I’d guess the authors write reasonable headlines and then some editor picks a terrible reformulation.
Sometimes (as in this case) you can see what the losing title was by looking at the URL: facebook-targeting-ads-by-age-gender-violates-calif-anti-discrimination-law
Much more reasonable, which is why it got less engagement and lost.