SAN FRANCISCO: Google is testing a way to tie online ads to brick-and-mortar store purchases, a move whetting marketing appetites while fueling privacy worries.
A product called “Google Attribution” was unveiled at a marketing conference this month in San Francisco by the Internet giant. Google has long been able to determine when users click on an ads and make a purchase, but linking online and offline habits takes its analytics a step further.
Google senior vice president Sridhar Ramaswamy, who announced that Attribution is in test mode with a limited number of partners and will be rolled out to more advertisers in coming weeks, touted the tool as being able to answer the long-challenging question of whether marketing campaigns are working.
“Google Attribution makes it possible for every marketer to measure the impact of their marketing across devices and across channels,” Ramaswamy said.
“Data-driven attribution uses machine learning to determine how much credit to assign to each step in the consumer journey — from the first time they engage with your brand for early research down to the final click before purchase.”
Real-world customer e-mail addresses or loyalty plan information can be woven with Google data from services such as AdWords, Google Analytics and DoubleClick Search to provide “a complete view” of marketing performance, according to the company.
Using artificial intelligence, or machine learning, to better analyze and understand consumer behavior to target ads and promote sales was a major theme of the conference.
For several years now, AdWords has enabled advertisers to measure visits to real-world stores stemming from online campaigns, Ramaswamy noted.
“Still, measuring store visits is just one part of the equation,” Ramaswamy said.
“You also need insights into how your online ads drive sales for your business.”
Real-world transactions matched back to Google ads are handed in “a secure and privacy-safe way,” with store sales information reported in aggregated and anonymized forms to protect individual privacy, according to the company.
Tying online activity to offline shopping decisions has been a “holy grail” for advertisers for quite some time, and comes with worrisome privacy implications, according to ACLU senior policy analyst Jay Stanley.
Attribution threatens to intrude on a core tenant of privacy, that people can have dealings with one party not spill over into affairs with other parties they interact with, Stanley contended.
“This is an evolution, not a revolution; another step toward increased monitoring of individuals,” Stanley said.
“Each step raises the question ‘Where does this all stop?’“
Stanley expected Google to be on its best behavior when it came to handling the growing trove of information about users, but that even the best of intentions could crack under the “enormous hydraulic pressure of the profit motive.”
“We have the full fury and genius of the capitalist system being driven toward monitoring people in ever increasing detail and companies are competing to do so,” Stanley said
“It will not stop without some sort of rules in which we as a society express our values through legal protections.”
Google and Facebook dominate the online ad world, and what one does to prove its worth to advertisers is likely to be copied by the other, according to Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.
Attribution promised to give Google a way to assure advertisers they are getting their money’s worth at the firm’s online venues.
“The big problem is that showing conversion from ad consumption to purchase has been horrible,” Enderle said of online marketing.
“This has been a problem for a long time. Google is trying to make a metric so they get credit for it when you do purchase after viewing an ad.”
Data showing which ads are translating into real sales should mean that the relevance of ads people see online will improve as marketers abandon mis-aimed or ineffectively tailored messages, the analyst reasoned.
“You are going to be hit with ads for things that you might actually want to buy, so you are going to spend a lot more money,” Enderle predicted.
Worries about privacy sparked by linking offline and online activities are a decade or so late, because the time to protest was when collection began of the troves of data about people, the analyst argued.
“There really is no downside to this application,” Enderle said while discussing Google’s marketing metrics move.
“This is the good side of collecting data; it is what else is being done with the data that should be unnerving and that we really don’t know.”
Google linking online and offline worlds in new ad challenge
Google linking online and offline worlds in new ad challenge
Microsoft faces wide-ranging US antitrust probe
- Competitors complain Microsoft locks customers into its cloud service
- FTC earlier set the stage for probe into Microsoft’s role in AI market
The US Federal Trade Commission has opened a broad antitrust investigation into Microsoft, including of its software licensing and cloud computing businesses, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.
The probe was approved by FTC Chair Lina Khan ahead of her likely departure in January. The election of Donald Trump as US president, and the expectation he will appoint a fellow Republican with a softer approach toward business, leaves the outcome of the investigation up in the air.
The FTC is examining allegations the software giant is potentially abusing its market power in productivity software by imposing punitive licensing terms to prevent customers from moving their data from its Azure cloud service to other competitive platforms, sources confirmed earlier this month.
The FTC is also looking at practices related to cybersecurity and artificial intelligence products, the source said on Wednesday.
Microsoft declined to comment on Wednesday.
Competitors have criticized Microsoft’s practices they say keep customers locked into its cloud offering, Azure. The FTC fielded such complaints last year as it examined the cloud computing market.
NetChoice, a lobbying group that represents online companies including Amazon and Google, which compete with Microsoft in cloud computing, criticized Microsoft’s licensing policies, and its integration of AI tools into its Office and Outlook.
“Given that Microsoft is the world’s largest software company, dominating in productivity and operating systems software, the scale and consequences of its licensing decisions are extraordinary,” the group said.
Google in September complained to the European Commission about Microsoft’s practices, saying it made customers pay a 400 percent mark-up to keep running Windows Server on rival cloud computing operators, and gave them later and more limited security updates.
The FTC has demanded a broad range of detailed information from Microsoft, Bloomberg reported earlier on Wednesday.
The agency had already claimed jurisdiction over probes into Microsoft and OpenAI over competition in artificial intelligence, and started looking into Microsoft’s $650 million deal with AI startup Inflection AI.
Microsoft has been somewhat of an exception to US antitrust regulators’ recent campaign against allegedly anticompetitive practices at Big Tech companies.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms, Apple, and Amazon.com Inc. have all been accused by the US of unlawfully maintaining monopolies.
Alphabet’s Google is facing two lawsuits, including one where a judge found it unlawfully thwarted competition among online search engines.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified at Google’s trial, saying the search giant was using exclusive deals with publishers to lock up content used to train artificial intelligence.
It is unclear whether Trump will ease up on Big Tech, whose first administration launched several Big Tech probes. JD Vance, the incoming vice president, has expressed concern about the power the companies wield over public discourse.
Still, Microsoft has benefited from Trump policies in the past.
In 2019, the Pentagon awarded it a $10 billion cloud computing contract that Amazon had widely been expected to win. Amazon later alleged that Trump exerted improper pressure on military officials to steer the contract away from its Amazon Web Services unit.
Union chiefs urge BBC staff to wear Palestinian flag colors or keffiyeh during ‘day of action’
- Protest on Thursday is a gesture of solidarity in support of demands for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages, organizers say
- Some workers voice concerns that the action violates the broadcaster’s strict guidelines on impartiality and risks upsetting colleagues
LONDON: Britain’s Trades Union Congress has urged BBC staff and workers in other sectors to participate in a “workplace day of action” on Thursday by wearing the colors of the Palestinian flag or a keffiyeh.
Organizers said their call for action is intended as a gesture of solidarity and to support demands for a permanent ceasefire and end to the violence in Gaza, and the release of all hostages.
The TUC, an umbrella organization that represents 5.5 million members of 48 trade unions, suggested that employees “wear something red, green, black, or a Palestinian keffiyeh to visibly show solidarity” in their workplaces.
The National Union of Journalists informed its members of the protest last week and condemned the actions of the Israeli government, which it said have resulted in the deaths of at least 135 Palestinian journalists since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas last year.
“The NUJ is urging branches and chapels to show support on the day and amplify the union’s calls,” it said.
However, The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday that the campaign has drawn criticism, particularly from Jewish staff at the BBC who raised concerns that it violates the broadcaster’s strict guidelines on impartiality and risks upsetting colleagues.
A spokesperson for the TUC emphasized the need for sensitivity while participating in the protest.
“The day of action is focused on the TUC’s call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages and political prisoners,” the organization said.
“We are advising trade union members to undertake the action respectfully and to discuss with colleagues what action is best suited to their workplace.”
Lebanon state media says Israeli fire wounds 2 journalists in south
- Video journalist Abdelkader Bay, two other visual journalists was reporting in Khiam when shots
BEIRUT: Two journalists were injured by Israeli fire on Wednesday, state media said, while reporting from a border town where Israeli troops and Hezbollah fought fierce battles before a ceasefire took effect.
The truce came into force on Wednesday morning after more than two months of full-scale war, which itself followed nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of ally Hamas over the Gaza war.
Both Israel and Lebanon’s army have warned people against returning to southern areas heavily hit by war, with Israeli troops still present in some border towns and villages.
“Israeli enemy forces in the town of Khiam opened fire on a group of journalists while they were covering the return of the residents and the Israeli withdrawal from the town, wounding two,” the National News Agency said.
Video journalist Abdelkader Bay told AFP he was reporting in Khiam with two other visual journalists when shots were fired and he was injured along with his colleague.
“We saw people checking on their homes and, at the same time, we were hearing the sounds of tanks withdrawing,” Bay said, adding the other wounded journalist was hospitalized.
“While we were filming, we realized there were Israeli soldiers in a building and suddenly they shot at us,” he said.
“It was clear that we were journalists,” he added.
Photographer Ali Hachicho was with Bay in Khiam when the incident happened but was not injured. They both said they saw a drone above the town before shots were fired.
“We saw military fatigues on the ground,” Hachicho told AFP, then he spotted Israeli soldiers nearby.
“When I put the camera to my eye to film them, I started hearing the sound of bullets between our feet,” he said.
Later on Wednesday, the Israel army set limits on nighttime movement in south Lebanon.
Watchdog calls for international probe into alleged war crimes targeting journalists in Lebanon
- Committee to Protect Journalists urges actions to ‘ensure journalist murders do not go unpunished’
- Investigations found Israel ‘deliberately targeted’ compound that killed 3 journalists in southern Lebanon in October
LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists has called for an international investigation into “possible war crimes” after separate investigations by The Guardian and Human Rights Watch concluded that Israel deliberately targeted and killed three journalists in southern Lebanon.
“Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted,” said CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg. “Israel must be held accountable for its actions and the international community must act to ensure that journalist murders are not allowed to go unpunished.”
HRW and The Guardian revealed on Monday that the Oct. 25 airstrike in Hasbaya, southern Lebanon, was carried out using a US-supplied bomb guidance kit.
The attack killed Ghassan Najjar, Mohammed Reda, and Wissam Kassem — journalists and media workers affiliated with Hezbollah-linked outlets — and injured three others.
The strike targeted a chalet in a Druze-majority area, which had been used as a press hub for over 20 days by more than a dozen journalists.
The Israeli military initially claimed the attack targeted a “Hezbollah military structure” harboring “terrorists” but later stated the incident was under review after discovering journalists were among the victims.
Investigations found no evidence of military presence or activity at the site. Analysis of shrapnel, video footage, satellite images, and interviews with survivors suggested the attack was a deliberate strike on civilians, constituting an apparent war crime.
HRW noted: “Information reviewed indicates that the Israeli military knew or should have known that journalists were staying in the area and in the targeted building.”
Legal experts also pointed to potential US complicity due to its provision of the weaponry used in the strike.
The incident follows the Oct. 13 killing of Lebanese journalist Issam Abdallah in an Israeli tank strike, which also wounded six other journalists.
Independent investigations by Reuters, AFP, HRW, Amnesty International, and Reporters Without Borders concluded the attack deliberately targeted journalists who were clearly identifiable.
Since the outbreak of hostilities in October, CPJ has confirmed the deaths of six Lebanese journalists.
In its Deadly Pattern report published before the war, CPJ found that Israel had failed to hold its military accountable for the killings of at least 20 journalists over the past 22 years.
Tuesday’s announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has brought a pause to hostilities, but media watchdogs will likely continue to demand accountability for attacks on journalists and press freedom violations.
Saudi, UN bodies sign deal on media training
- Saudi Media Forum Chairman Mohammed Al-Harthi said that the partnership is the forum’s first strategic initiative and will positively impact Saudi media
RIYADH: The Saudi Media Forum has signed a cooperation agreement with the UN Institute for Training and Research to promote sustainable development and empower individuals as well as media organizations.
It aims to advance media and training efforts in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030 and global sustainable development trends, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
The agreement focuses on creating lasting impact through innovative training programs that combine academic knowledge with practical applications.
These programs will empower journalists and organizations, enhance professional awareness in both public and private sectors, and promote media literacy and innovative education.
The partnership will also support media organizations in achieving sustainable development goals through professional training, remote learning and educational resources.
Saudi Media Forum Chairman Mohammed Al-Harthi said that the partnership is the forum’s first strategic initiative and will positively impact Saudi media.
He added that Saudi Arabia, a nation of continuous renewal, must stay ahead of transformations to advance its development.
The forum continues to forge strategic partnerships with local and international entities to elevate Saudi media’s global standing while providing media professionals and organizations with the tools to create world-class content, the SPA reported.
