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From the "you're factually wrong department": > Yelp, like Google, makes money by collecting consumer data and reselling it to advertisers. False. Google does
by paul_milovanov 10y ago
From the "you're factually wrong department":
> Yelp, like Google, makes money by collecting consumer data and reselling it to advertisers.
False. Google does not resell consumer data to advertisers, nor anybody else, and never has. It does, of course, use this information, as per its privacy policy, to display ads that are hopefully most relevant for a particular user (and allows the user to view & control what information is stored about them, e.g through Privacy Dashboard). At no point does information about the user leave Google.
This might seem like a minor nuance, but the difference in trust and privacy implications are enormous. User trust is Google's single most important asset and a whole lot of work, attention and money goes into earning it and keeping it.
Disclosure: I'm employed by Google. Enjoy the Kool-aid.
- MatekCopatek 10y agoWell, depends on how you define "reselling data". One could argue that giving advertisers an application where they can target users based on a bunch of metrics that are personal data from the user's point of view is also "reselling data", even though it's not in the form of a database of names and birthdays. But in the strictest sense, you're absolutely right.
- russell_h 10y agoI don't think that is a reasonable definition of "reselling data". If I offered to sell you data, I expect you'd be surprised if after collecting payment I clarified that you couldn't actually have the data.
- icebraining 10y agoRespect for user privacy aside, since some people might find it hard to believe, it simply makes no business sense to sell off your most precious possession when you can extract value from it again and again by keeping it closed off.