Here’s why Google fights so hard to get your data

Revenue from digital advertising for the first half of 2016 totaled $32.7 billion, a 19 percent increase from last year, a new report from Interactive Advertising Bureau found. In particular, about half the total digital advertising revenue ($15.5 billion) came from data related to online search, while $7 billion of total revenue came from social media data, such as the information Facebook collects on its users.

Digital advertising over mobile devices increased over the past year from $8.2 billion to $15.5 billion, an increase of 89 percent. There’s still a ton of money to be made from digital ad revenue. That’s why Google released their new mobile phone. That’s why Google is pushing the FCC’s flawed set-top box proposal despite objections over consumer privacy and copyright protections. And, ultimately, that’s why Google has worked so hard to gain influence with the Obama administration.

The economics of digital advertising – particularly data collection and consumer privacy – are playing a larger role in telecom and technology public policy. The FCC recently approved new privacy rules, which require ISPs to gain “opt-in” consent – a positive agreement – from customers to collect and share sensitive data. That means those Internet providers will have a harder time selling consumer information for advertising dollars. But the FCC’s opt-in rules don’t apply to companies like Google and Facebook, which collect massive amounts of data on their users and then sell it for advertising.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) has proposed a solution, calling for legislation that would empower the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to establish rules to protect consumer privacy from the “unscrupulous practices” of Internet companies. These massive tech companies need to be regulated like the Internet providers. Customer data should be protected across the digital ecosystem – whether from the Internet service providers or the data collectors. The FCC rules are a good first step, but we must press forward.

Links:

Digital Advertising Grew to a $32 Billion Industry in the First Half of 2016 (AdWeek, Nov. 1, 2016)

FCC postpones set-top box vote, signaling possibility of future compromise (Speed Matters, Oct. 3, 2016)

FCC approves new privacy rules, but consumers remain at risk (Speed Matters, Oct. 28, 2016)

Is Google too close to the White House? (Speed Matters, Oct. 27, 2016)

Here’s how Facebook makes money off you (Speed Matters, Aug. 26, 2016)

Rep. Pallone calls for legislation that empowers the FTC to protect consumer privacy (Speed Matters, Oct. 6, 2016)