Google centralises data to manage privacy and improve ad targeting
January 19, 2012 by Martech Social
It has been a tough start for Google in 2012. Despite record profits, investors expected more and dropped their stock by 10% whilst consumers were alarmed at the latest privacy announcement.
If you hadn't seen it, Google is centralising (link http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-tracks-consumers-across-products-users-cant-opt-out/2012/01/24/gIQArgJHOQ_story.html) all privacy policies to make it easier for the consumer to understand what is being recorded and why. Google aim to make this a safer experience for consumers but in reality it is also centralising its knowledge about Google users. So as a consumer using YouTube, Google+ and Gmail I will have one privacy policy but also one central tracking function to help Google understand better about me.
This centralised knowledge is key to Google's future as it seeks to gain more value from its customers and sell more targeted and valuable advertising. From its origins selling ads against keywords, Google is now maturing to be able to improve the relevance of these ads further decreasing the need for 'long tail' keyword searches.
So, in time, if Google knew I had been watching BMW videos on YouTube, used Google location services in Sevenoaks it could deliver a targeted 'BMW dealers in Sevenoaks' ad. This form of advertising is also where Facebook wants to be, tieing in your stated interests with your actions recorded on the social graph.
As social activities permeate into the established web marketing channels we can expect to see more of this data mining to deliver more targeted and personal results.