Google and Spyware

Niall Kennedy has a very good article on “Google’s total information awareness potential”. His basic premise: “Google is already well on its way to building an information awareness network on its own sites as well as the sites of hundreds of thousands of willing webmasters and millions of desktop clients.”

This is not a new issue. John Battelle discussed the potential a while back but Niall goes into more detail about Google’s current status. And, Google is not the only one trying to build this potential – see Kandoodle’s latest activities, also described by Niall.

The issue that Niall doesn’t address is that of privacy. Most consumers/users do not really know that Google is collecting all that information. And, once they do realize it, how will they like the fact that they have it and are using it? Will there be a user backlash? A regulatory backlash?

Personally, I think that the backlash will start with advertisers. Why, you ask? Well, it is true that advertisers stand to benefit from this. Consumers are getting harder to reach, and Google’s Total Information Awareness would advertisers realize the Holy Grail of “One to One Marketing” – boosting marketing ROI. So what’s not to love?

The backlash. More specifically, the threat of a backlash. Advertisers will be wary to embrace something that has the potential to generate a lot of negative buzz. All it takes is a couple of well placed and well known examples, and advertisers will get scared away. Not the SMB folks currently advertising on Google, but the large brand advertisers that are going to be the engine of growth.

Already, there are some pieces of the backlash starting. Liz Lawley talks about her attempt to prevent Google’s information gathering by using GoogleAnon.

The future, I think, is actually the opposite of these data collection schemes. It is Permission Marketing – the idea that companies should allow consumers to opt-in to the types of messages they want. Not spy on consumers and give them what you think they want. Ask them what they want, and let them choose what they would like to see. This idea is supported by none less than P&G, one of the largest advertisers in the world and arguably the best.

Groups like AttentionTrust are leading the way in online Permission Marketing. Everyone should watch to see how AttentionTrust continues to evolve.