Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's iAd Takes on Google With Targeted Mobile Advertising
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Apple and Google are becoming corporate enablers of the pervasive surveillance George Orwell warned against in the book 1984. If I had a live person following me around to collect exactly this information, I would call the cops. The fact that Apple and Google collect this information in a nonintrusive way doesn't make it any better, it's too much an invasion of privacy even with my plain vanilla, nothing to hide life.
I'd rather pay full price for the products and services I use rather than spending my time wading through advertisements, or having big brother looking over my shoulder.
I'd rather pay full price for the products and services I use rather than spending my time wading through advertisements, or having big brother looking over my shoulder.
They don't need to as they can simply do the analysis themselves. This means that the advertiser just says "I want to target married men in their 30s" and the iAd targeting system will find potential matches and then serves up the ad to them. Well thats how I guess it would work.
I mean if Google can use search patterns and keywords to target me, this is no surprise and I guess fairly valuable. Question really is do they use only the apps I purchase or info on my actual personal info (age, gender, etc.) as well.
second. this is all a waste of time in my opinion. The only time i click on ads is by accident, b/c the bus jolted my finger onto the section of the screen. Who the heck actually clicks on ads? I don't even click on ads on my mac, ever..
They're hardly unique to this practice, which has been going on for decades.
To Google's credit, they don't charge you anything before they collect your data and sell it on the open market.
I guess the big question is what data do they have? What music you listen to, what apps you buy, and where you are? I just posted that I am Starbucks on 4 Square and that has my name attached to it, data Apple shares has no personal info attached to it. Oh, and I am currently listening to a Rolling Stones song. I think once again people are freaking out over a mole hill.
You're welcome - although I think you read my post before I could correct my typos. Too much caffeine means I can't type fast enough! :b
If that's all they're using, how do they target demographics like this?
Like Google, I don't think they're disclosing the info they have, how they get it, who they share it with (beyond iAd partners), etc. You put in your name and address into an iTunes account or when you use a credit card. Using that information, Apple can LOOK INTO YOUR SOUL
It's true. I just called Apple and they gave me all autrefois's info. I'm erecting a billboard on his front lawn right now.
Don't forget-- purposely denies you Blu-ray on your computers all in the name of sickening greed (but won't have the b***s to admit it!), because popping a Blu-ray disc into your (Apple) computer gets Apple zero money, but extorting you by forcing you to use the media vending machine known as iTunes (the infamous Walled Garden) where you get nickeled and dimed to death gets Apple a slice of the pie.
autrefois
macrumors 65816
*tthey limit where you can get apps from to the App store...where the apps are screened, which is nice.
*I dont know about ringtones and i-devices...I just make my own ringtones for free from mp3s using garageband. Its takes a few seconds.
*iAds does suck.
*please, block as many other ad networks as possible.
It looks like there is really only one real problem in there. And I just vote with my dollars and eyes; any app with an ad, gets deleted or I'll pay up the dollar or two for the no ad version
QFT.
Also, the way Apple is likely targeting "young men in their late 30's with children" I would imagine goes something like this.
1. You age DOB is in your itunes account, I believe
2. You can also select 30 year old men by knowing what types of music, movies and apps 30 year old men consume. Each media is probably associated with an age distribution. Overlap enough of them, and there will be a peak.
3. If you download an action movie and "Baby shapes" you probably have kids.
If you access to someones music collection, video collection, purchase pattern, purchase frequency, and purchase times, you could probably tell a lot about them.
Time to stop the Apple warp drive and use iTunes Gift Cards
Just an idea of course, but what if you purchase iTunes Gift Cards – in cash in your local Apple store – instead of using your credit card and/or bank account? I mean, that way they don't know who is buying what
Just an idea of course, but what if you purchase iTunes Gift Cards – in cash in your local Apple store – instead of using your credit card and/or bank account? I mean, that way they don't know who is buying what
Uh huh. Despite the fact that Google's entire mobile business model is based upon a practice which you despise, Google is the good guy and Apple is the bad guy in your eyes.
It's amazing to me that very few people seem to recognize what Google is all about. Brilliant work by Google's PR department to be sure. Reminds me how North Koreans are convinced that the South Koreans are evil and only their Dear Leader truly loves them.
Google has Big Brother written all over it. Apple mostly just wants to sell you iGizmos.
I like and dislike both companies, but Google scares me far worse. I can always walk away from my iLife if I choose. Try walking away from Google.
wake up. everyone is doing this, and it is difficult to avoid. Your credit card company has been collecting information for years, the supermarket discount card (that these days you need to not have to pay grotesquely inflated prices on the so-called 'club priced items'), you name it. Oh yeah, one itme when moving my name was misspelled with the local phone company. Most of my junk mail that followed me to my new address had that misspelling... No way to escape this crap!
I think privacy laws in the US are way to corporate friendly, but to single out Apple as evil is really hypocritical. Apple could be sued for not maximizing profits for their shareholders if they did not monetize this information in some way. And what they are doing in actually much better for the consumer than the traditional data sales, in which your credit card company (or whatever business) sells info to anyone, and one gets all sorts of junkmail, target marketing, etc. Apple at least does not actually sell their data, to my knowledge.
And again, Google is the grand emperor of this business practice. Why is no one raining on their parade?
Maybe because this is Mac Forums, dedicated to Apple issues, not Google?
You are right, however. Google has been caught red-handed stealing wi-fi data. Their entire business model is built on the idea of harvesting data for sale and catering to advertisers.
I still love Apple and its products. They're the best. I'm just very concerned and raising a flag because I don't want to see my beloved company go down the wrong road. If I can no longer trust Apple to not steal my data and otherwise abuse loyal customers then where do I go? To Windows and PC products? Never may it be.
I don't think I used the word evil to describe Apple or anyone else in the post you quoted, nor did I say anything to indicate that they are alone in their data collection.
I'm sure that Apple, Google, all of the many many companies that gather information on me sincerely believe that they are providing me with valuable services by collecting, using, and selling information on me. In fact, at times I even appreciate the targeted ads on Google. But I'd definitely like more control over, and more visibility into, the collection and decimation of my information. It's not because these companies are evil, it's simply that I'd like to decide for myself who I'm willing to trust.
Unfortunately, criminals sometimes hack into large corporate databases. So even though I agree that Apple and Google are not evil, I should consider the potential harm that could come from the data they have on me.
My issue is, that I question weather the value that I get from services paid for by targeted ads, justifies the risks of the unconstrained dissemination of my information.
Bloomberg takes a look at Apple's new iAd platform and how the company is using its vast database of customer information to target advertising campaigns and get a leg up on Google in the mobile advertising space.Google, which has made its search business in large part on its ability to deliver targeted ads, has similar capabilities to Apple, with its search results, email offerings, and Android platform serving as sources for customer information that it could use for targeting mobile ads. But what it doesn't have is access to Apple's ecosystem administered through the iTunes Store, a limitation that gives Apple a significant advantage on its own iOS platform that has reportedly surpassed 100 million devices sold.
Today's report points to Unilever's "Dove Men+Care" soap campaign, one of the launch iAd campaigns, as an example of Apple's iAd program in action.Despite comments from Apple CEO Steve Jobs last month revealing that the company has already locked up $60 million in iAd commitments for the second half of this year, a number of questions remain about the program, ranging from privacy and antitrust concerns to worries about whether it can live up to the hype and deliver the kind of customer response advertisers are expecting and for which they are paying top dollar.
Article Link: Apple's iAd Takes on Google With Targeted Mobile Advertising
personally I dont want any damn ads on my phone... whatever I want i will search it out/research the product I want