A leaked pitch deck exposed the sneaky plans of Cox Media Group to listen to users’ devices. The company intends to use this voice data for ad targeting purposes.
Leaked Cox Media Group Pitch Deck Reveals Plans To Listen To Users Devices For Ads
Reportedly, media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) has started pitching potential buyers a lucrative idea for ad targeting that involves listening to users’ communications.
According to 404 Media, the company’s leaked pitch deck shows how Cox Media Group sells the idea of sneakily listening to users via their devices’ microphones for ad targeting.
Cox Media Group previously enraged privacy advocates by boasting its ‘active listening’ abilities in 2023. At that time, the firm removed the blog post highlighting this capability from its website and negated any privacy invasions. However, it seems the firm didn’t abandon its plans to spy on users via device microphones for ad targeting.
Based on further insights from Gizmodo, CMG has set up a dedicated ‘active listening’ program that keeps recording users’ communications via the device microphones near them. Specifically, this program exploits smart devices to capture real-time intent data by listening to users’ conversations. It then uses AI to process the voice data to identify ‘potential buyers’ by looking for the relevant keywords for a specific advertiser.
Using this data, the media group can create specific geo-targeted audience lists within defined spaces, such as a 10-mile or 20-mile radius, to show relevant ads to the users.
Google, Amazon Confirmed No Links With CMG Over Its ‘Active Listening’
To add weightage to this pitch deck (available here), CMG also boasted years-long partnerships with tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta. However, all three firms denied any links with CMG.
In its statement to 404 Media, Google confirmed a past interaction with CMG via its advertising partners program, which it ended following CMG’s policy violations.
All advertisers must comply with all applicable laws and regulations as well as our Google Ads policies, and when we identify ads or advertisers that violate these policies, we will take appropriate action.
Likewise, Amazon also denied CMG’s claims in its statement to Gizmodo,
Amazon Ads has never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to do so.
Meta didn’t precisely explain its interaction with CMG while somewhat denying its involvement in this ad targeting program. The firm shared the following statement with Gizmodo.
We don’t have any comment. But just to clarify, the pitch deck in the article lists Meta as a general marketing partner, not as a partner ‘in this program.
CMG is yet to clarify its stance regarding this pitch deck and its sneaky ‘active listening’ program.
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