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#245/ April 18, 2021
GOOGLE'S SECRET PROJECT
According to the The Wall Street Journal, for years Google has had a secret project with the code name "Project Bernanke" (I guess they couldn't come up with anything stupider ) in which Google "allegedly give(s) its own ad-buying system an advantage over competitors."
Because of Google's singular situation as the operator of the world's largest ad exchange, AND representing both ad buyers and ad sellers, AND being a buyer itself, Google is in the unique position of knowing exactly what its competitors have been bidding for ad placements and using that knowledge to bid against them. Yeah, I know, it's complicated.
This all came to light because the state of Texas is suing Google for monopolistic practices. Some genius at Google messed up a court filing last week by unintentionally uploading to the court an unredacted document that revealed details of its dirty dealings and how it is secretly screwing publishers.
According to the NYPost, "By using Project Bernanke’s inside information on what other ad buyers were willing to pay for space, Google could tailor its operations to beat out rivals and bid the bare minimum to secure ad inventory, the state reportedly alleges."
Google acknowledges that Project Bernanke is responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of annual revenue but denies it's anti-competitive. Good luck convincing a jury of that.
The document also apparently reveals further secrets about another sleazy operation that we've reported on previously, code name Jedi Blue (oy.) In this racket Google has a secret multi-year pact with Facebook that guarantees Facebook would win a certain percent of ad auctions.
Lovely people, this adtech crowd.
How Tracking Drives Wedges Into Democratic Societies
Here's a wonderful example of how dangerous tracking is and how it divides people, courtesy of The Markup via NYU’s Cybersecurity for Democracy project.
In this example we see two different ads from the same company - ExxonMobil - that appeared on Facebook. The first ad was targeted at people who the Facebook algorithm determined were liberals. It spoke of ExxonMobil's commitment to environmental concerns.
The second ad was targeted at people who the FB algorithm determined were conservative, and spoke of the problem of environmental regulations.
Tracking us and maintaining surveillance over our every move inform the algorithms that divide us into warring camps and guarantee that we only see content that reinforces our biases. The bitter fruits of these practices are far too dangerous to be allowed to continue. First essential step: major reduction of tracking.
More About Adtech
I'm just going to reproduce a piece here from MediaPost this week quoting a bipartisan group of senators that introduces another reason why adtech is such dangerous shit and has to be brought under control.
And From the Great Tom Fishburne...
Facebook Outrage of the Week
Last week I wrote about the 2019 breach of half a billion Facebook users' records, including personal information like email addresses and phone numbers. Because of Facebook's incompetence and irresponsibility this information is now available to anyone as hackers have posted it all on the web.
Astoundingly, Facebook says it has no intention of notifying these people that their personal private information is now available to any crook, scam artist, or sleazeball who wants it.
How can a company be so astoundingly irresponsible, you ask? Simple, it's Facebook.
On Thursday, the European Union, through the Irish Data Protection Commission (which has jurisdiction because FB's European headquarters are in Ireland) launched an investigation into Facebook's behavior in this case.
According to GDPR regulations, Facebook was required to notify the Commission of any data breach in a timely fashion, generally assumed to be 72 hours. Although the breach occurred in 2019, to this day Facebook has never informed the Commission of the breach. In fact, according to TechCrunch, the Commission found out about it just like you and me - through press reports.
Facebook claims that it was "old data" and therefore not subject to GDPR. Nice try.
You may remember that in 2019 Facebook was fined $5 billion by the FTC here in the US for privacy violations. It was also forced to enter into an agreement with the FTC to act responsibly in their handling of data. At the time the FTC said...“The Department of Justice ...expects Facebook to treat its privacy obligations with the utmost seriousness.” Yeah, good luck on that one.
A question for the FTC: If this breach doesn't constitute a violation of Facebook's agreement with you, WTF does?
Oh, And One More Little Outrage
If you want to throw up, read this whistleblower's account of how as a "low level data scientist" at Facebook she "found multiple blatant attempts by foreign national governments to abuse our platform on vast scales to mislead their own citizenry..." and how she got fired for her efforts.
Dep't of 'Can't-Make-This-Shit-Up'
According to a report from the BBC, the Animal Welfare Society of Krakow, Poland received a call from a "desperate caller" about a frightening animal in a nearby tree. It had people so afraid they refused to open their windows for fear it would get into their houses.
Upon investigation by the Society, the mystery beast turned out to be a croissant. I wish it was twenty years ago so I could make a Polish joke. H/T, Lee Trott
Dep't of 'Can't-Make-This-Shit-Up,' Part 2
Publicly traded company Your Hometown Deli (HWIN), a deli in rural Paulsbury, New Jersey with two years of sales totaling $35,000 has a market cap of - you ready? - over $100 million.
A hedge fund manager, David Einhorn, commented, "The pastrami must be amazing." Bubble? What Bubble?
Ever-Popular Chest Pounding Part
You're gonna get more than your share of self-promotion today so buckle up... After I did my talk at MarketingWeek's recent Festival of Marketing, I did a little after-party pontificating with The CMO Club. Here's a nice recap of some of the discussions we had.
We now move from MarketingWeek to Advertising Week. In a couple of weeks, a certain blogweasel will be participating in a panel discussion on the subject of 'Ageism in Advertising' during Advertising Week Europe. Be prepared for some serious ranting. Stay tuned for further particulars.
And as long as I'm blowing my own horn, here's an excerpt from a LinkedIn review this week of my latest book... "Advertising for Skeptics is a timeless masterpiece for those who tend to ask questions, for those who tend to challenge traditional belief systems and thought processes..."
I really like that 'timeless masterpiece' bit.
