GOOGLE'S DIRTY TRICKS

Last year, it was revealed that Google had been reading our Gmails. This was a shock to many people. The excuse for doing this was the one these digi-creeps always give -- by collecting private, personal information about us without our knowledge or informed consent, they can provide us with more relevant advertising. Yeah, they're doing it for us. As if we're all clamoring for "more relevant advertising."

Of course the real reason they do this is to collect more data about each of us which they can monetize by dangling their ungodly data bases in front of their advertising clients.

At the time Google made a big fuss about how they were going to discontinue this disgusting practice. They were no longer going to scan our emails. How thoughtful and considerate of them!

This was not done out of any benevolence on Google's part. It was done to mollify their big corporate clients who didn't like the idea of Google scanning their emails to collect information about them. Of course, these big shots don't mind collecting all kinds of data about us, they just don't want anyone collecting info about them.

So Google announced they had seen the light and were not going to do it anymore. As usual with Google, the whole truth was not quite so simple. According to The Wall Street Journal this week...

"...a top Google official said the company allows app developers to scan Gmail accounts...The company also disclosed that app developers generally are free to share the data with others..."

In other words, Google isn't reading our emails anymore, but their pals are. And their pals are sharing our info with their pals.

Another Google official said disclosure and notification of this policy is “easily accessible to users to review before deciding whether to grant access.” Bullshit! You have a Gmail account, right? Did you know about any of this bullshit?

The president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit research group had this to say...“the privacy policy model is simply broken beyond repair...There is simply no way that Gmail users could imagine that their personal data would be transferred to third parties.”

And while we're kicking Google around, another report last week claimed that Google was working on a secret project code-named "Dragonfly" on behalf of Chinese interests. The project is a search engine that would require sign-in so that interested parties could know who was searching for what.

In other words, Google was becoming, in effect, a participant in the draconian internal Chinese spying apparatus.

Perhaps equally upsetting is that according to the report, Google has "forced employees to delete a confidential memo circulating inside the company that revealed explosive details" about this project.

Hey Google, don't be evil, remember?

Shocking Absence Of Trust In Agencies

A study by ID Comms reported last week that only 10% of advertisers have high or very high trust in their agencies. It's hard to imagine a worse report card than to find that 90% of your clients don't trust you.

Two years ago the ANA did an investigation and concluded that sleazy, corrupt media practices were "pervasive" in the industry. Since then agencies have been under the microscope and challenged to prove that they are being transparent about how they collect and spend their clients' money. Recent reports indicate that not much has changed. Astoundingly, in that two year period, trust levels have dropped even further.

Regardless of how hard agencies try to demonstrate their forthrightness and trustworthiness they will never succeed under current conditions.

The simple fact is that online media is the new touchstone -- and it's a scummy bucket of sleaze. In the minds of clients, agencies are connected at the hip to the online sleaze factory. Until agencies demand that online media clean up their act, agencies will continue to take the hits.

Bitter Pills

- According to Fast Company, Facebook will soon be announcing a home gadget featuring video chat that will have a facial recognition camera that can follow you around a room. Can't wait for that.

- According to a report in The Washington Post, in 2019 almost half of all cellphone calls will be scams. In 2017, fewer than 4% of cellphone calls were scams. By early 2019 they will comprise 45% of cellphone calls.

- Meanwhile Amazon continues its march toward spying on us full-time, everywhere we go. According to USA Today..."Privacy be damned. At its huge press event here this week where it had 70 different product announcements, it didn't say a word about privacy."

- Trade journals are reporting that MDC -- an agency mini-holding company that includes agencies Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, Anomaly, 72andSunny, and Forsman & Bodenfors -- is up for sale. MDC has been a train wreck for years. It is a good example of how holding companies sully agency brands.

And Now The Good News

As I mentioned last week, Eat Your Greens is a very interesting new book that I was privileged to contribute to. Several of us involved in the book will be in NYC to talk about a few issues that are important to the advertising and marketing world. The book will be published on Oct. 9th and the event will take place on the evening of October 17th, so mark your calendar. Next week I'll have more information about the event and the location.

It's getting confusing around here because I also have a completely different book that will be published a week before Eat Your Greens. My book will be the opposite. I am hoping it will be the silliest, most immature and injudicious book about our industry ever. Announcement here next week.

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