NEWSLETTER #114 / May 13, 2018
No Images? Click here
FACEBOOK SAYS FU TO EU
On May 25, the European Union (EU) is scheduled to implement the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which "forbids companies from forcing users to turn over personal information as a condition of using their services." (The Wall Street Journal.)
To the surprise of absolutely no one in my neighborhood, the ferrets at Facebook are doing everything in their power to undermine this regulation. And they are doing it in such a blatant manner that it is thrilling to behold.
If you agree to allow Facebook to show you targeted ads you are then subject to Facebook's new terms which give you the following options on the collection, sharing, and selling of your personal, private information -- take it or leave it.
According to The Wall Street Journal if you refuse to accept Facebook's terms, you get the notification that you see to the right.
The fact that this defies both the letter and the spirit of the law doesn't bother these guys. If you want to understand their specious legal rationale, read this. Let's hope the EU regulators are assiduous and decisive in the implementation of their regulations.
People a lot smarter than I think the GDPR is going to be a total game changer and give consumers back the power to protect their privacy. I'm starting to worry. The Facebooks and Googles have all the money in the world, a battalion of lawyers, and a successful history of defying regulators.
Mobile Ad Fraud Doubles
Mobile advertising is now about twice the size of desktop digital advertising. According to an article in MediaPost this week, the rate of fraud in mobile advertising has doubled in the past year.
This is in direct contradiction to the pronouncements of the dreamers at the ANA who claim online ad fraud has shrunk 10%.
Of course all numbers about the size of online ad fraud must be taken with a mountain of salt. The numbers reported reflect the fraud that is detectable. The whole art and science of fraud is to be undetectable. And the fraudsters are about a century ahead of the detectors.
Meanwhile, last week MediaPost also had an interesting piece about "Ad Choices." Ad Choices is the name of the cruel joke of a program that the IAB, 4As, ANA and the rest of the cuties in the online ad world threw together in 2010 to pretend to give users an easy way to opt out of behavioral targeting based on tracking. They always throw Ad Choices in our faces as a smoke screen to demonstrate how sensitive they are to the issue of online surveillance and to prove they are capable of self-regulation.
The study cited by MediaPost shows that after eight years, 2/3 of Americans don't even know that Ad Choices exists.
And in other nauseating tech media news, Zeynep Tufekci, a college professor, NYTimes frequent columnist, and tech company critic, had this to say after a demonstration of Google's new AI activated voice assistant, Duplex, "Horrifying. Silicon Valley is ethically lost, rudderless, and has not learned a thing." Amen.
The Oath Of Awful
Every time I have to write about Oath -- the parent company of Yahoo, AOL, and a few other online remnants -- I feel remiss if I don't mention what a stupid fucking name it is.
Okay, now that I got that off my chest, I'm sure you'll be happy to learn that according to CNN Oath's new terms of service state that any of its constituent companies "...has the right to read your emails, instant messages, posts, photos and even look at your message attachments." Well, at least our x-rays are safe.
In preparation for the GDPR, it looks to me like some of the online media bullies are doubling down on surveillance and daring us to say no.
AI At Work
You may recall a while back I mentioned that when I joined LinkedIn centuries ago I listed my job as Chief Aggravation Officer. Then a few weeks ago, much to my surprise, I got a notification from them saying that they had filled over 4,000 Chief Aggravation Officer jobs. And all along I thought I was special.
Well, apparently the market for Chief Aggravation Officers is exploding. This week I was notified that they have filled 5,476 CAO jobs recently. I guess it's a great time to be alive and aggravating.
Why A Bad Ad Is More Embarrassing Than A Bad Movie
Let's say you produce a real stinker of a movie. It opens on Friday, nobody sees it, it's gone by Monday. No animals are harmed, no friends and family are horrified.
But if you produce a real stinker of an ad, look out. It's gonna run forever. The client paid for it, and they don't care much about your embarrassment. Millions of people are going to see it. Every day and every night. Case in point...
The amazing thing is, someone actually wrote this thing, and some other people thought it was funny, and some other people approved it. And poor Anthony Davis...
