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• Yes, Google owns your content?
  Google and all marketing companies have relished in the avalanche of data mined material--mostly behind the scenes and without most users direct or implied consent. Just look at the HUNDREDS of third-party cookies that polluted users' cookies directories (for those who are blind or ignorant and do not monitor cookies, for one thing).
  
  In many cases, by being third parties, they employ the parasitic, smoked mirror privacy tactics that the marketing industry thrives on. While the primary (first party) Web site might have might have tough-sounding pro-consumer pro-Privacy statements (if you can find their statements), many disclaim how third parties employ and handle them. They suggest you visit third parties to verify their respective Privacy policies. However, they rarely indicate who their third-party cohorts are! How convenient it is to employ double-speak and loopholes!
  
  They are all--first parties and third parties--counting on it being too painful of users sifting through the legal fine print--paragraphs and paragraphs of harder-to-read, more complex writing, double-speak, loopholes, and convenient vagueness to thwart most users from bothering to find out the truth.
  
  Smoked mirror marketing occurs where the first party makes vague references to "established relationships", "partners", "affiliates", "offers". This provides an OPEN backdoor for them to weasel their way into exploiting your privacy.
  
  Out of nowhere, you suddenly receive SPAM (unsolicited commercial email) from some company claiming to have a previously established relationship with you but you have had absolutely no DIRECT contact that company. Through smoked-mirror marketing and the guise of "protecting THEIR clients' privacy" (ironic!), these third-parties will not tell you how how they got your name and e-mail address. Hypocrisy is a very important part of marketing companies' business models.
  
  Disrespect, covert practices (they call it marketing automation--how sweet!), and double-speak are all parts of classic marketing business models.
  
  Have you ever attended a Direct Marketing Association (DMA) conference? I have. I know what I saw and heard! The DMA is so proud at P-R and double-speak. They have lobbied heavily to protect their members' desires to fax-spam and e-mail spam, while at the same time they have issues press releases proclaiming to be "anti spam". Hah, how convenient it was that they groped to redefine what they think spam is--but they didn't tell you that directly!
  
  Marketers consider your data that they gathered to be their property, bar none. That data have value to them. And we consumers "benefit" by this by having our privacy invaded--oops, our "automated marketing experience"!
  
  I have set up my hosts files to thwart the assault of dubious third-party garbage. In reply to: "Does Google own your content?"

  August 30, 2007

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