Today in Digital Marketing - Targeted: The Dark Side of Personalized Advertising

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is Tuesday, August 27th. Today, were the conspiracy nuts right all along? Turns out our phones are listening to us and they're doing it to sell ads. Also, the shocking number of buyers who return things they purchase online, Google's secret program to influence agencies, and TikTok will do more than speak your language. It'll sound like your CEO while doing it. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing.

Starting point is 00:00:32 Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. Cox Media Group claims it can target ads based on what people say out loud near device microphones.

Starting point is 00:01:04 We first reported about this a few months back after some media reported rumors of this technology. Now, 404 Media says it's confirmed it. CMG calls the product active listening and claims it can use voice data from more than 470 sources to target potential customers. Quoting from the CMG pitch deck, quote, smart devices capture real-time intent data by listening to our conversations. Advertisers

Starting point is 00:01:32 compare this voice data with behavioral data to target in-market consumers. We use AI to collect this data from 470 sources to improve campaign deployment, targeting, and performance, unquote. So how does it work exactly? Quoting 404 Media, quote, The deck does not say where CMG allegedly sources this voice data, be that a particular brand of smart TV, a smart speaker, or a smartphone loaded with a particular app. It says that once it has used the voice data to identify an audience that is ready to buy,

Starting point is 00:02:08 CMG builds a list of those audience members and uploads it to ad platforms to then target advertisements, unquote. CMG lists big names as partners, but those partners, Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft's Bing, are now slowly backing into the shrubs as word spreads. Google has kicked CMG out of its ad program after reviewing the presentation.

Starting point is 00:02:37 Amazon denies working with CMG on active listening. Meta is investigating whether CMG violated its terms. Microsoft has not yet commented. And if that slide deck can be believed, it's actually cheaper than you think. CMG says it charges 100 bucks a day to target people in a 10 mile radius and $200 a day for a 20 mile radius, though it's possible that's simply an add-on cost to use its technology and doesn't include the media costs for the actual ad creative placement. Understandably, this leaked confidential pitch deck is light on details. Quoting 404 Media, quote,

Starting point is 00:03:14 Employees of MindSift, a tiny New Hampshire-based company, boasted on its own podcast about targeting advertisements by listening to people's everyday conversations through microphones in their smart speakers. After publication of that piece, Mindsift's social media went dormant, and the company wiped mentions of the voice data capability from their Instagram page. Unquote. A new survey has found that 39% of consumers return online purchases at least once a month. Last year, return to merchandise in the U.S. reached $744 billion. The survey also found that 46% of consumers shop online weekly

Starting point is 00:03:54 and 87% do most of their shopping online. Return fraud is becoming a major issue, with 57% of shoppers admitting to making fraudulent returns at least once. Incidents of return fraud rose 16% to 52% this year. There is good news, though. Most consumers say they're open to exchanges or store credit instead of full refunds if the process is quick and convenient. Younger consumers prefer instant refunds or exchanges, while older shoppers prioritize convenient and low-cost return methods. We have a link to the full report in today's email newsletter,

Starting point is 00:04:33 which you can get for free by tapping the link at the top of the show notes or going to todayindigital.com slash newsletter. According to new court documents filed last week, Google planned to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on incentive programs to influence agencies to buy certain types of media. The programs offered discounts, perks, and cashback to agencies that agreed to purchase specific media from Google. The documents were filed as part of the upcoming antitrust trial against Google.

Starting point is 00:05:05 Yes, another one. The programs have said to have existed since at least 2016 and include DVIP upfronts, the agency capability fund, and KPI deals. These programs offered agencies discounts, cashback, or other incentives to meet certain spending targets or performance metrics. Some say the programs raise concerns about transparency and potential conflicts of interest. Agencies might recommend media to clients based on the incentives they get rather than what's best for the client.

Starting point is 00:05:36 The document suggests Google plans to use the incentive programs to steer money towards certain products like Waze and programmatic deals on AdX. The company also discussed whether incentives were needed to encourage buying from universal app campaigns. The documents will likely be used in the upcoming antitrust trial against Google. This one starts on September 9th. If you aren't using influencers to sell your products, you may be at a disadvantage. That's one finding from a Shopify survey of more than 13,000 merchants,

Starting point is 00:06:10 which found 73% of U.S. merchants rely on influencers and the social media engagement they bring to maintain relationships with existing customers. Social media is also key for gaining new customers, with 52% of merchants citing organic social media content as the most effective marketing channel. Influencer marketing is expected to be a top trend in the next year, with 41% of U.S. merchants citing it as the most important marketing strategy. Social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are the three most popular platforms for that use. Platforms are investing in social shopping. TikTok's shop is steadily growing in the U.S. YouTube is expanding its affiliate marketing program and partnering with Shopify to build out new tools. Another key finding from that survey, merchants also said

Starting point is 00:07:01 they prioritize personalized marketing messages, with 35% saying using acquired customer data will be a key trend for the next year. Are you sick of that effervescent TikTok voice? TikTok has this feature. Open TikTok app. Or how about that creepy carnival clown one? Start by searching up Echo AI, then click install. Well, TikTok is now letting users create AI simulations of their own voice in the app or any voice. This could lead to marketers using the voices of their CEO or hired spokesperson as the narrator. To create a custom AI voice, users just speak into their device for a few sentences, and the app then generates a digital voice that can be used on future clips.

Starting point is 00:07:47 Perhaps more importantly for marketers, it also does language translation, making it a useful tool for brands that want to reach a broader audience. The feature is based on ByteDance's research into AI voice replication, which can replicate any person's voice with only a tiny amount of input. While this technology has potential benefits, it also raises concerns about deep fakes and hoaxes. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters. Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen.

Starting point is 00:08:39 It's the season for new styles, and you love to shop for jackets and boots. So when you do, always make sure you get cash back from Rakuten. And it's not just clothing and shoes. You can get cash back from over 750 stores on electronics, holiday travel, home decor, and more. It's super easy. And before you buy anything, always go to Rakuten first. Join free at rakuten.ca. Start shopping and get your cash back sent to you by check or PayPal. Get the Rakuten app or join at Rakuten.ca. R-A-K-U-T-E-N.C-A.

Starting point is 00:09:15 And finally, Apple's podcast app has taken a big hit. Three years ago, nearly a third of podcast listeners used the app that made it the number one podcast app. Now that number has dropped to just 12%. YouTube, surprisingly, now leads the pack with 31% of podcast listeners tuning in on the video platform. Spotify takes second place with 21% of listeners. So my big video game drought appears to be over, at least for the time being. I switched over to Elder Scrolls Online, which, you know, I used to be obsessed with Fallout. Elder Scrolls is by the same company. It's kind of a similar game mechanics wise.

Starting point is 00:09:51 It's a big multiplayer thing. And my wife and I used to play the hell out of it like a couple of years ago. But we stopped. We went to Fallout. We went to other things. I had an unfortunate mental health crisis over Overwatch. You know how it goes. Anyway, came back to Elder Scrolls.

Starting point is 00:10:06 Man, is it different. It is so big now. Like, I was just trying to enchant a weapon so that it would drain life from my enemy as I wounded them, and I had to get a scroll that would unlock seven gems that I had to deconstruct to turn them into a motif, but I couldn't do that because my current skill level only let me do three at a time

Starting point is 00:10:27 but I could grind the skill level but I had to get 16 things to turn that into a you know it's one of those kind of games where the grind is so frustrating but so satisfying so I joined

Starting point is 00:10:44 a guild they're helping me which is very kind of them. I'm trying to get this set of armor that if I wear all five pieces, that my healing, because I'm a healer, my healing effects last for 40%. But to get all five pieces, I have to run a specific dungeon over and over and over again until they drop, which I'm told could take like a year. But I'm here for it. All right, that's what I'm off to do now. I'm Todd Maffin.

Starting point is 00:11:11 Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. Are you an ad agency with clients in the retail sector or a retail store or brand that wants to improve your understanding of your customers? Well, you're in luck. This summer, Unary has started offering or brand that wants to improve your understanding of your customers? Well, you're in luck. This summer, Unnery has started offering retail shopper dashboards for clients in the United States and

Starting point is 00:11:30 Canada. Great for brands, retailers, and marketing agencies to be able to visualize customer visits to their own stores and to selected competitor stores as well. This new service is useful for identifying growth of competitors and consumer brand preferences from customers' foot traffic. Contact the Unnery team, that's U-N-E-R-R-Y, by clicking the link in this episode's show notes.

Today in Digital Marketing - Targeted: The Dark Side of Personalized Advertising

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