‘Active Listening’ pitch deck prompts questions about ad targeting and privacy

The news: A leaked pitch deck from Cox Media Group (CMG) details the company’s now-defunct “active listening” ad targeting plan, which proposed to use “real-time intent data” from smart device microphones to deliver ads to consumers.

• The pitch deck touts $100 per day and $200 per day payment tiers for clients, depending on whether they pull data weekly from a 10-mile and 20-mile radius, respectively.
• The deck also highlights Google, Meta, and Amazon as major partners with whom CMG had extensive relationships.

404 Media initially reported on the active listening plan in January prior to the pitch deck leak. Google said it removed CMG from its Partner Program following a review, and all three companies gave statements to 404 Media highlighting the importance of consent and privacy when gathering user data. CMG has removed mentions of the plan from its website.

Active listening: CMG’s controversial ad tech proposal taps into a long-held fear among consumers that smart devices are listening to them without consent. Before its removal, CMG’s website even cited the Netflix sci-fi/horror show “Black Mirror” in a surprisingly tone-deaf blurb.

• CMG purported to use AI to gather and analyze consumer data, mixing its findings with clients’ own databases to create consumer profiles. If put into effect, active listening would represent a massive leap in ad technology—but it’s one that crosses a red line for consumers and highlights the conflict between ad targeting and consumer privacy.
• In an era where data breaches are commonplace and AI can be used to mimic real people, the prospect of voice recordings falling into the hands of bad actors is particularly concerning.

The private era: In the last few years, the tide of regulation and ad tech trends have shifted toward increasing consumer privacy.

• This is the basis of seismic shifts in digital advertising like the pivot away from third-party cookies, which are seen as not up to snuff with changing privacy standards (though Google recently signaled that it will hang on to third-party cookies in a limited fashion).
• Nearly two-thirds of US states have passed privacy legislation, with more laws set to take effect at later dates, per the International Association of Privacy Professionals. European regulators have also turned an increasingly intense eye toward major platforms’ privacy and consent practices.
• The implied breach of consent that active listening poses is likely what prompted such swift and stark disavowals from Google, Meta, and Amazon.

Our take: Ad targeting capabilities should not come at the cost of user privacy. Marketers should carefully consider their ad targeting methods and make sure they align not just with the current established rules around privacy, but also with those that lurk around the corner.

The time to act is now: Clinging to sunsetting privacy methods will only leave marketers behind as new standards take effect.