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For years people have been saying that after they have a conversation – not on the phone – they see ads for what they have been talking about.
I have always said no, that is not happening.
BUT, maybe I was totally wrong.
Cox Media Group (CMG), one of the largest ad networks in the country and one of Google’s largest ad partners until this month, was promoting an ad technique called active listening.
It means exactly what you think it means and have been telling me for a few years that was happening.
They take what they hear from your phone’s microphone, enhance it with AI, mix in what else they know about you and voila, targeted ads.
And, even if you agreed to this insane invasion of privacy, other people that are in the room with you did not.
Conceivably, this activity violates wiretap laws.
Cox’s pitch deck was available online for more than six months but as soon as the poop hit the fan, the pitch deck self destructed.
Cox said they partner with the best including Google, Amazon and Facebook.
When a reporter reached out to Google about this, they said all advertisers must comply with all applicable laws and Google Ads policies. Amazon said that they never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to. Facebook did a similar spin saying the pitch deck lists Meta as a general marketing partner, not as a partner “in this program”. Then Meta provided a link to Facebook’s policies on using microphones for targeted ads.
Cox has not provided any comments for the story.
Google, however, fired Cox as a premiere ad partner.
CMG says they also glean data from smart TVs and other devices. Some smart TV makers warn users not to have sensitive conversations in the same room as their TVs. That is pretty telling.
Apple also did an interesting dance. They said that apps must request explicit user consent and provide a clear visual and/or audible indication when recording, logging or otherwise making a record of user activity.
WHAT THEY EXPLICITLY DO NOT SAY IS THAT APPS CAN’T RECORD WITHOUT DOING THE ABOVE.
CMG Local Solutions has made claims suggesting it either has a way around traditional processes in other phones or is potentially misleading clients as to how effective its marketing information is. CMG Local Solutions was pretty vague about how its data capture worked.
https://www.imore.com/apple/apple-responds-to-claim-active-listening-can-hear-your-phone-conversations-and-use-them-to-target-you-with-advertising-calls-it-a-clear-violation-of-app-store-guidelines