Apple's Unwillingness to Share User Info Said to Hinder iAd Sales

[Parasprite]

That's probably a good sign of Apples intentions, actually. Limiting the extent of where the data goes is something not a lot of companies are interested in (or sometimes even aware of). Too bad it probably won't help them in the long run with actual revenue, usage, and competition.

 

[BaldiMac]

Much like the people who rant about how evil Google is. You guys all act like they're selling your name and social security number to Satan himself.

As a long time Google user (of a LOT of their services), I never feel unsafe or compromised while online. I never have problems with ads or marketing, and have never felt like I was being made a product, as so many seem to think.

Plus, what sort of information are they sharing? My name? The area I live in? The fact I browse for MTG cards online frequently? Who cares? This is all information that is available publicly if you know where to look.

You need to realize that what advertisers are after are a broad generalization of user habits. They have no interest in your specific name or address, they more want categorised data (eg. I'm a white male, 20-24, plays video games, interested in IT industry). THAT is more useful to them than what my dog's name is, or what time I get up every morning.

It's so easy to mischaracterize an argument you disagree with and substitute your own personal priorities for others.

 

[MacDude21]

I work in digital advertising and I can tell you it's pretty frustrating when trying to put a mobile campaign together for a client and not being able to properly target users based on certain demographics. Its much harder to successfully target people who use Apple devices.

If you're using that data, sqrew you. You're disrespecting our privacy, and doing something that should be illegal.

Nice confirmation of why I feel a bit better about Apple having my usage data and why I do not use Facebook at all and use Google alternatives as much as possible (e.g. duckduckgo for search) .

Same here. I have removed Google from my life.

I click on banner ads all the time. By accident.

It is possible that "millions" want to be spammed in every direction they look. I mean, I guess for some, its not enough to get junk mail every day, and viagra emails, and phone calls from telemarketers, they also want the content they want to read in the internet to be surrounded by ads.

Yes, and when people find out about how Google uses their data, they one or more of these:

1. Install AdBlock (Making the advertising useless)
2. Boycott Google (Making google loose profits)
3. Do nothing (Some people are too lazy to stand up for themselves.)

 

[X38]

...
Afaik Google doesn't give away information about individual users either.

You are correct that Google does not give away your personal information. They SELL it. That is how they make their money and that is why I try to have as little to do with them as possible.
-Now if Apple would just come out with their own search system...

 

[SudoSays]

? That is kinda off...google stock is over $1200

No. Price per share means nothing if you aren't accounting for how many shares there are! Apple has more shares out than Google, in fact, enough to make it worth more than Google since value = #shares*pricePerShare.

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Stock is not an accurate measure of anything except for how many greedy, rich, old white guys "like" your company.

It is THE measure of the company's value. And believe it or not, there are some people who aren't rich investing in stocks and making money because they're smart.

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I work in digital advertising and I can tell you it's pretty frustrating when trying to put a mobile campaign together for a client and not being able to properly target users based on certain demographics. Its much harder to successfully target people who use Apple devices.

Yeah, I'd rather have ads targeted towards me than random ads. These guys on MacRumors are kidding themselves about how having their gender be public and having advertisers know which apps they're using is an invasion of their privacy. Just trying to find some reason to bag on Google.

I wonder, do you people try to hide what you do in public too? Don't want random strangers knowing how often you drink water… No, just trying to hate Google for some reason. I bet you guys even use crappy search engines like DuckDuckGo and Bing (even though Bing also tracks you).

 

[BaldiMac]

I wonder, do you people try to hide what you do in public too? Don't want random strangers knowing how often you drink water.

No, I don't care if random strangers know what I am currently doing in public. But I don't want someone following me around in public and private, making notes of everything that I do, and then using that information to make money.

 

[mm201]

iAds have never been about generating profits for Apple. They are about providing revenue streams to developers, increasing developer interest in their platforms, which in turn increases hardware sales, which is where they make the real profit.

 

[SudoSays]

Why would the advertisers even need this information? Isn't the point of the service that Apple takes care of targeting the ads to the most appropriate audience.
Afaik Google doesn't give away information about individual users either.

It says in their terms of service that you are agreeing to let them do whatever they want with your information.

 

[kerrikins]

Yeah, I'd rather have ads targeted towards me than random ads. These guys on MacRumors are kidding themselves about how having their gender be public and having advertisers know which apps they're using is an invasion of their privacy. Just trying to find some reason to bag on Google.

I wonder, do you people try to hide what you do in public too? Don't want random strangers knowing how often you drink water… No, just trying to hate Google for some reason. I bet you guys even use crappy search engines like DuckDuckGo and Bing (even though Bing also tracks you).

Just because you are okay with being tracked all over the place doesn't mean that *I* have to be okay with it. What part of this is hard for you guys to understand? Seriously, the dismissive tone that so many people on here have is more infuriating than anything else, especially when it seems like you guys are ignoring the fact that these companies would LOVE to be able to do personalised advertising based on who you are, how old you are, purchase history, preferences, what you like, etc.

You are fooling yourself if you think that companies don't want to have an intimate profile of you, and again, if you're okay with that - great. But don't tell me that I have to be.

 

[mattopotamus]

No. Price per share means nothing if you aren't accounting for how many shares there are! Apple has more shares out than Google, in fact, enough to make it worth more than Google since value = #shares*pricePerShare.

.

It is all relative. Would you rather have 10,000 shares of apple or google stock?

That is rhetorical.

 

[SudoSays]

It is all relative. Would you rather have 10,000 shares of apple or google stock?

That is rhetorical.

It doesn't matter what I want. You said that Google is doing better because of a higher share price, but that isn't valid.

 

[mattopotamus]

It doesn't matter what I want. You said that Google is doing better because of a higher share price, but that isn't valid.

Serious question. What is the break down? Cause apple would have to have double the shares.

 

[SudoSays]

You are fooling yourself if you think that companies don't want to have an intimate profile of you, and again, if you're okay with that - great. But don't tell me that I have to be.

I can see why some people would be afraid of this, but really, 99% of the commenters here are complaining about it. Sure some of them are genuinely afraid of being tracked, but some people, especially those using Bing rather than Google, are just complaining to complain.

P.S. Bing has got to be way worse than Google. I went to it once, and they had my Facebook profile somehow. Now that's where I draw the line. I know MS is going to get hacked and let every spammer in the world get my email address.

 

[Lennholm]

You are correct that Google does not give away your personal information. They SELL it. That is how they make their money and that is why I try to have as little to do with them as possible.
-Now if Apple would just come out with their own search system...

No they don't, what they sell is the service to target ads to the appropriate audience, their collection of information about users is what makes this service possible. If they sold the actual information they would make their own service worthless.

It says in their terms of service that you are agreeing to let them do whatever they want with your information.

Who's ToS are you referring to? Apple's or Google's? Apple's ToS gives them the right to share any of your information with their affiliates when they want to.

 

[macs4nw]

I work in digital advertising and I can tell you it's pretty frustrating when trying to put a mobile campaign together for a client and not being able to properly target users based on certain demographics. Its much harder to successfully target people who use Apple devices.

Admittedly frustrating for advertisers, but most users consider that a good thing.

 

[SudoSays]

Serious question. What is the break down? Cause apple would have to have double the shares.

Apple has 892M shares out and is worth $487G, and Google has 336.1M shares out and is worth $406.9G. So yeah, more than double.

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Who's ToS are you referring to? Apple's or Google's? Apple's ToS gives them the right to share any of your information with their affiliates when they want to.

Google's. I didn't know Apple had that too.

 

[Viantef]

Some of you guys are dummies.

Apple sells premium hardware, and Google sells Ads. What the hell do you expect?

You complain about Google tracking you, huh? How has it negatively effected you? Google knows I'm in to technology, so I see 'Pebble', 'Microsoft', and other tech ads. It's better than receiving random ads on washing appliances and female lingerie.

What about all those great free services Google provide? (Drive, Keep, Gmail, Maps, Finance) Apple has yet to come close in terms of mobile and web applications. (Which I completely understand is not their market, but they have dipped their foot in it)

What about Google's ability to set up partnerships so they can offer a premium device that people can afford. (Nexus Line)

I have a Macbook Air, iPhone 5, & HTC One. All my devices are synced through Google because there is no other service that does it better.

 

[goobot]

It is all relative. Would you rather have 10,000 shares of apple or google stock?

That is rhetorical.

A Share is a percent of a company, owning 10% of accompany is often better than 1% even when if that first companies 1% is worth a lot less than the other. ultimately if you want and equal footing in apple you would be paying a lot more than for google.

 

[giantfan1224]

It is all relative. Would you rather have 10,000 shares of apple or google stock?

That is rhetorical.

It's all relative? 10,000 shares of GOOG is valued at $12.1 million. 10,000 shares of AAPL $5.5 million. If you're talking relative in terms of total share of the company, $12.1 million will by you a 0.003% stake in Google. That same $12 million will buy 21,800 shares of AAPL but only a 0.0024% stake. Apple is a more valuable company overall so stock price by itself doesn't tell the whole story.

Edit: I see that several others have beat me to my point.

 

[petsounds]

I work in digital advertising and I can tell you it's pretty frustrating when trying to put a mobile campaign together for a client and not being able to properly target users based on certain demographics. Its much harder to successfully target people who use Apple devices.

I don't know if you're speaking generally here, or referring to iAd campaigns specifically, but Facebook mobile ads let you target only iOS devices if you wish, even down to the version of iOS they're running and what kind of device (iPad/iPhone). Facebook also lets you target people with specific interests, so that you can get the most out of your ad budget.

This kind of service is what advertisers want out of Apple. But I think the main problem with iAd is that people will only accept ads on free apps, and so it's a bit wasteful to build an expensive iAd campaign for your product when those ads are being served to users who prefer free over paying a premium for quality.

 

[plokoonpma]

"The company is said to be "downright stingy" with the information it shares, too slow at developing ad products, and "too reticent to foster relationships."

The people/company saying this is the exact reason why I wouldn't want my personal info being sold to these idiots.

Its not only that, they want Apple to give the info so they save millions in research. All Apple's data is a huge asset for commerce in general and even NSA, FBI, etc.
I like Apple stand, you want it? then research it with your own cash and resources!!

 

[tevion5]

YES! This is why we are loyal to this brand.

...as well as the juicy marketing and pretty devices! xD

 

[ardchoille50]

They make enough off products...their biggest advantage over everyone else is customer service, trust and respect. To deny a little extra cash to retain customer confidence is much more valuable.

Indeed! It's sad that more people don't place a higher value on customer service.

 

[Krimsonmyst]

It's so easy to mischaracterize an argument you disagree with and substitute your own personal priorities for others.

Mischaracterize? Literally 95% of this thread discussion is people saying how bad Google is because they don't want their data passed on to advertisers.

All I'm pointing out is that nothing negative has come of Google having a profile on me. In fact, if Google's data mining was so detrimental, why don't we hear about it more?

If Google is so evil, why are they doing so well? Why do millions upon millions of people use their web services if they're just in to make money off people and nothing else.

This thread proves that people will dream up any tinfoil hat theory as to why Google is evil and Apple is their saviour. Fact of the matter is that Apple has the exact same information on you that Google does, and if you don't think they use it to their advantage for marketing purposes, then you're delusional.

 

[lk400]

The ad firms say this thinking they are down talking Apple - yet for many of us, this is like a shining review. This is exactly why I prefer Apple services. THANK YOU APPLE