Mobile Fix: Data, privacy and advertising
Simon Andrews, founder of Addictive!, this week looks at the lengths consumers are now going to to hide from advertisers online as data and privacy top news agendas the world over.
A couple of weeks ago we mentioned Vendor Relationship Management (VRM) – the idea that people take control of their own data – and even make money out of it. A new (long) piece on privacy from VRM advocate and Cluetrain Manifesto author Doc Searls is worth reading.
For a long time we had this quote from Cluetrain on our business cards and it’s still really relevant – especially the focus on people’s data.
But now the issue is just so much bigger. A new book makes the argument that Facebook users are essentially manufacturing data that Facebook then go sell to advertisers.
“Lanier looks to a future in which it isn’t just our social networks and search engines that reap billions from our data. It’s everyone: retailers, banks, health care providers. Lanier thinks they’ll all offer us wonderful services at irresistible prices – yet leave us unemployed and at their mercy.”
This week Facebook became more open about the way it uses data – in response to a US legal challenge.
“You permit a business or other entity to pay us to display your name and/or profile picture with your content or information, without any compensation to you.”
Searls is more optimistic than Lanier, but new data from the US shows that 28% of users have tried to avoid being observed or seen by advertisers – just behind the 33% who have done the same to avoid hackers and criminals.
This anxiety is leading to scary stories about how that the cool new fitness app you download is selling your data to insurance companies.
One of the biggest players in data is Acxiom which has launched a consumer site that allows you to see what data Acxiom has on you – and let you correct any mistakes. But it has been criticised for only sharing a proportion of the data it has.
So we think that the VRM approach has promise and a new start-up shows this view is catching on. Handshake wants people to use it as the broker for its data and claim people could earn £000s – which seems a little optimistic.
What brands want is Intent – and Google has built its empire through this insight. Some smart thinking on Intent from US agency KBS here – with a good remix of the infamous LUMA chart to illustrate the thinking.
Google AdChoices already improves intent by allowing people to be more in control of the ads they see, which is good for the user and the brands also benefit by avoiding waste. What’s the next step? There is an economic model in here and we suspect an agency group or GAFA will unlock it – or maybe a forward thinking operator could innovate here?
Devices
The Apple launch next week is eagerly expected – lots of rumours of coloured cases and a cheaper device – but the most significant thing could be the event they are running in Beijing at the same time.
Everything points to a deal with China Mobile which, as the world’s biggest operator with 745 million subscribers, can add huge volume. Some forecasts suggest they could sell 17 million iPhones in China alone next year.
Equally interesting are the renewed rumours about Apple TV. As we have speculated before Apple is probably going to focus on a set top box rather than get involved with the actual TV.
With the Apple announcement guaranteed to be a big event, everyone else is getting their retaliation in first. Samsung have announced updates to their Galaxy range – with new smartphones, phablets and tablets. And of course their watch.
The Galaxy Gear acts as a ‘companion’ to the smartphone, using Bluetooth to share content. There is a lot of hype around this area but – whilst we predicted these in our slightly cheesy futurology video 10 years ago – we’re not convinced there is a huge market for $299 peripherals like this. Maybe as voice recognition gets better that may change, but right now this feels like an early adopter product.
And a new Google Nexus smartphone has sort of leaked. In a promotion for the new KitKat Android it looks like the Nexus 5 is shown. Again made by LG (as is the Nexus 4, our favourite phone of the moment) this larger device looks interesting.
(Google have struck a novel brand partnership with the launch of KitKat, the latest version of Android. The new website for KitKat plays on the partnership.)
Physical
We think the big thing from Apple iOS7 is going to be beacons – an easy way to connect smartphones with the physical world. This Scoble video is worth watching to better understand the opportunity and to learn about one of the new companies in the space.
Lots of great use cases but also a danger we go back to Bluetooth spam. More on beacons and other firms here.
Not quite as sexy, but QR codes do work. When done properly.