5 ms·

This might be a silly question but does google already sell browser activity? Ads through doubleclick/analytics is one thing but are they already selling just s

This might be a silly question but does google already sell browser activity? Ads through doubleclick/analytics is one thing but are they already selling just straight the-user-opened-their-browser-and-went-to-these-5-sites-today type data?

cm2012 7y ago
No, they don't sell that.
- hardwaresofton 7y ago
  Is this a possible future play? It's not like they're hurting for revenue but it seems like this is only a few steps away/easily possible.
  - adrianmonk 7y ago
    Selling that data would destroy trust and drive away users. As it currently is, they make a TON of money off using the data for ads. Why would they kill the goose that lays the golden egg? That seems like a terrible strategy.
  - sfifs 7y ago
    Nope they won't. Over 60% of their revenue comes from Search advertising (Ref: latest quarter financial reporting). If people lose trust, they may no longer hand over the data that makes their search relevant and also will broadly agitate for restrictions (as opposed to essentially nerds doing so right now) Much of Google's moves are explainable in terms of steps to protect and grow the search revenue stream.
  - solveit 7y ago
    Google is literally the market leader at using personal information to make money. In any sensible business plan, they'd be the ones buying data, except they don't have to, because they're also the best at collecting it! In general people greatly overestimate the potential gains from selling data relative to collecting your own. Most personal data is fairly general and bland and useless. Gains come from very specific data that caters to your particular use-case. The best way to get that data is usually to collect it yourself, not just because it's so specific, but also because tiny details in collection methods matter, and the only way to make sure it's been done right is to do it yourself.
skybrian 7y ago
Google says they don't sell personal information [1], and I've never heard a credible source say that they bought any. It doesn't stop people from making all sorts of claims, though. [1] https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/ https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/
- adrianN 7y ago
  Targeting ads is pretty much selling personal information though.
  - chipperyman573 7y ago
    No it's not, targeting ads is allowing people to bid on completely anonymous (to them) users to see their ads based on demographic categories.
- GeekyBear 7y ago
  If Google uses cookie based ad tracking, how do they prevent others from reading the cookies? TechCrunch certainly implied that Google's approach shared information in a way that Apple's former iAd platform did not back in the day. >what [iAd] reveals to its advertising partner is next to nil; rather than offering a cookie-based ad-tracking and targeting mechanism, it essentially requires partners to tell it what kind of audience it needs to reach, and then trust that Apple will handle the rest, AdAge says. And it’s well worth noting that Apple prioritizes customer privacy here over a big potential upside in ad revenue. ...what it doesn’t do is hand over the keys to all that data and let advertisers plug into it directly with their own data-mining and targeting software. That’s not standard for the ad industry and that’s likely the reason a few Madison Avenue feathers are ruffled over their approach. https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/18/advertisers-not-thrilled-with-apples-practice-of-protecting-its-users-data/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/18/advertisers-not-thrilled-w... Has their approach changed?
  - aembleton 7y ago
    > If Google uses cookie based ad tracking, how do they prevent others from reading the cookies? For security reasons, your browser won't send the cookie to other domains.
giancarlostoro 7y ago
I dont think they sell it but they certainly could scan through it to figure out what kind of ads are relevant to you.
Mikeb85 7y ago
They use browser activity to serve relevant ads, I've never heard of credible evidence that Google sells any user data.
taneq 7y ago
No, because they sell ads and the primary use for browser history is to target advertising and track advertising interaction. The user data that they use to deliver those ads is their secret sauce, it'd be like Tesla selling access to their battery and electric motor designs.

cm2012 7y ago

No, they don't sell that.

hardwaresofton 7y ago
Is this a possible future play? It's not like they're hurting for revenue but it seems like this is only a few steps away/easily possible.
- adrianmonk 7y ago
  Selling that data would destroy trust and drive away users. As it currently is, they make a TON of money off using the data for ads. Why would they kill the goose that lays the golden egg? That seems like a terrible strategy.
- sfifs 7y ago
  Nope they won't. Over 60% of their revenue comes from Search advertising (Ref: latest quarter financial reporting). If people lose trust, they may no longer hand over the data that makes their search relevant and also will broadly agitate for restrictions (as opposed to essentially nerds doing so right now) Much of Google's moves are explainable in terms of steps to protect and grow the search revenue stream.
- solveit 7y ago
  Google is literally the market leader at using personal information to make money. In any sensible business plan, they'd be the ones buying data, except they don't have to, because they're also the best at collecting it! In general people greatly overestimate the potential gains from selling data relative to collecting your own. Most personal data is fairly general and bland and useless. Gains come from very specific data that caters to your particular use-case. The best way to get that data is usually to collect it yourself, not just because it's so specific, but also because tiny details in collection methods matter, and the only way to make sure it's been done right is to do it yourself.

skybrian 7y ago

Google says they don't sell personal information [1], and I've never heard a credible source say that they bought any. It doesn't stop people from making all sorts of claims, though. [1] https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/ https://safety.google/privacy/ads-and-data/

adrianN 7y ago
Targeting ads is pretty much selling personal information though.
- chipperyman573 7y ago
  No it's not, targeting ads is allowing people to bid on completely anonymous (to them) users to see their ads based on demographic categories.
GeekyBear 7y ago
If Google uses cookie based ad tracking, how do they prevent others from reading the cookies? TechCrunch certainly implied that Google's approach shared information in a way that Apple's former iAd platform did not back in the day. >what [iAd] reveals to its advertising partner is next to nil; rather than offering a cookie-based ad-tracking and targeting mechanism, it essentially requires partners to tell it what kind of audience it needs to reach, and then trust that Apple will handle the rest, AdAge says. And it’s well worth noting that Apple prioritizes customer privacy here over a big potential upside in ad revenue. ...what it doesn’t do is hand over the keys to all that data and let advertisers plug into it directly with their own data-mining and targeting software. That’s not standard for the ad industry and that’s likely the reason a few Madison Avenue feathers are ruffled over their approach. https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/18/advertisers-not-thrilled-with-apples-practice-of-protecting-its-users-data/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/02/18/advertisers-not-thrilled-w... Has their approach changed?
- aembleton 7y ago
  > If Google uses cookie based ad tracking, how do they prevent others from reading the cookies? For security reasons, your browser won't send the cookie to other domains.

giancarlostoro 7y ago

I dont think they sell it but they certainly could scan through it to figure out what kind of ads are relevant to you.

Mikeb85 7y ago

They use browser activity to serve relevant ads, I've never heard of credible evidence that Google sells any user data.

taneq 7y ago

No, because they sell ads and the primary use for browser history is to target advertising and track advertising interaction. The user data that they use to deliver those ads is their secret sauce, it'd be like Tesla selling access to their battery and electric motor designs.