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Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

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Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#211
post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely not the case. The Google machine includes: Google Analytics, Adwords/Adsense, Doubleclick network, Android and store, Chrome Browser, Chrome OS, Maps/Streetview, Gmail, G-Suite, Youtube, Google Play, Google Fiber, Google Fi, Public DNS, all the various websites with 1st party cookies, connections to Salesforce CRM, and the recently announced Mastercard purchase data. Facebook and Amazon are nowhere close t…

According to the privacy page for Public DNS, it sounds like that data is not used for ads https://developers.google.com/speed/public-dns/privacy >We don't correlate or combine information from our temporary or permanent logs with any personal information that you have provided Google for other services.

They still get aggregate data that can be valuable. All the site visits that don't go through google search will still trigger a DNS lookup. Including geolocation.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The general public won't care as long as Amazon is able to offer prices lower than competitors.

This 1000 time. I only care about prices when I am shopping online. The problem is, Amazon is not often the less expensive option.

I think every company cares about its customer loyalty, and damaging the trust in your brand might leave you with the customers who use you only because you are the cheapest. This would quickly make your brand worthless.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#213
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google knows all that things too, without you having to expressly tell them. Where have you been? You are constantly tracked if you have an android device. (not sure whether it also works for iOS with google maps on). No need to check in. Hobbies and interest - search history. The amount of granular information that Google could potentially have on an individual person is terrifying. The search history alone is effec…

How does Google know my birthday, exactly how old I am, the events I said I was interested in, everytime I change jobs, my relationship status, the college I went to, where my wife and I went to see a show the other night, whether I am single, married, or somewhere in between? This is the kind of data that people tell FB about explicitly. Google only knows that have a vague interest in running. FB could have a better…

I'll strictly speak about Google. (and assume that you are a regular internet user, who has gmail, and doens't go to great lengths to mask their activities)

If they wanted to be really invasive, they could get a lot. Not saying that they are doing it, but they can

1) Birthday - on every birthday, there are a bunch of random sites where you have an account that send you congratulations.

2) How old - beyond patterning (which can get you within a fairly narrow range), I am sure that most people have received or sent an email which states their date of birth - whether in the text, or as part of a form

3) Job changes - in any european country, you get your employment contract via both mail and email. (and btw...this means they have your salary too)

4) College you went to - if you already had gmail while at university, they have you. if you got it afterwards, they probably saw the "alumnus" emails

5) Relationship status - this is arguably trickier. There's no "hard" proof. I think FB has the edge here, though not as large as it used to be (I remember that 10 years ago everyone had their status on FB. now it's almost no one, but it's irrelevant, because they can look at your photos, and whether you mention "gf/bf/wife" etc.

6) Running - again, FB have the edge in determining how much/where etc. But google know you are running, because they have your emails from the apps to which you subscribed.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#214
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (I think Ad Blockers are off topic, they're still very niche for now) Didn't google have to provide a big refund to advertisers just due to adnauseum use?

Ad blockers are used by 600m devices. 40% desktop 15%. Mobile (at least in the US) Happy to gather sources if you'd like, I searched this up a few days ago

What % of page views? I'd be surprised if it was more than 1%.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#215
post #38

This is my bear case for Google. Google offers the least precise targeting compared to Facebook and Amazon. Facebook knows more about its users because users tell it about themselves and Amazon knows more about purchasing habits of its users because of thier purchase and search history. If I’m searching for something with the intention on buying it, I am going to go to the specific site - like Priceline, hotels.com,…

Google has a lot more data than Facebook and Amazon combined. The targeting is not just based on your current search query. It forms a model of your behavior using your entire search history and browsing history which contains significantly more personal details about you and isn't limited to what you're willing to share in the public eye of Facebook. They also track your browsing history through every site you visit…

True, but it seems Google has trouble refining all the raw data it mines. My go-to for passive entertainment is Youtube, and finding something new I like on that platform is like pulling teeth. I don't think anyone important at Alphabet really realizes how bad their overfitting problem is. A major reason why I sold off my investment in them this spring.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#216
post #32

I heard at a talk a few months ago that if you are planning to build an app to sell to retailers, you should build it on any cloud except for AWS. This is because the large retailers are uncomfortable with giving any revenue to Amazon. I heard echos of this in the last paragraph of the post, but there's plenty of co-opetition going on as well.

Can confirm from client projects. This is a political topic and usually not up for debate. But Google Cloud is nice too.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#217
post #9

Amazon ad revenue alone ($2.2 billion) for Q2 was already around 15% of Facebook's total Q2 revenue ($13 billion). That is nuts, if they have any room to grow that further, since ads isn't even Amazon's specialty. For reference, Snapchat did $290 million in the same timeframe, Twitter $660 million.

Amazon has one of the perfect data mixes - like Google, it has all the infrastructure for true intent based advertising (sponsored listings on result pages, based on specific searches or product info), as well as comprehensive end-to-end customer journey information for your more passive advertising as well. The latter will probably earn them decent scratch, even if it's perhaps not long-term sustainable with data is…

Also when you are on Amazon you are usually there to buy stuff so its a good time to show stuff to buy. On Facebook not so much.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#218
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amazon has one of the perfect data mixes - like Google, it has all the infrastructure for true intent based advertising (sponsored listings on result pages, based on specific searches or product info), as well as comprehensive end-to-end customer journey information for your more passive advertising as well. The latter will probably earn them decent scratch, even if it's perhaps not long-term sustainable with data is…

Also when you are on Amazon you are usually there to buy stuff so its a good time to show stuff to buy. On Facebook not so much.

Pretty much the TL;DR of my point ;)

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#219
post #160
post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, you don't need too many stat techniques for basic tracking: 1) Set up Facebook pixel on your checkout thank you page + collect referral into into a database. 2) Spend $1,000 3) See how many purchases Facebook reports came from Facebook, check out how many sales you get recently have the Facebook referrer. 4) Repeat if sales revenue > $1,000. This is obviously the simplest use case possible, but there you are.…

I guess for (4) you mean, "repeat if [attributable] _profit_ increase [vs control] > $1,000"? Not much point in driving $1,000 in _revenue_ with $1,000 in marketing spend unless your margins are 100%.

Thanks sib. That's exactly the point I was trying to drive home.

Re: Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88B Online Ad Market

#220

This is my bear case for Google. Google offers the least precise targeting compared to Facebook and Amazon. Facebook knows more about its users because users tell it about themselves and Amazon knows more about purchasing habits of its users because of thier purchase and search history. If I’m searching for something with the intention on buying it, I am going to go to the specific site - like Priceline, hotels.com,…

Nobody has the data that Google has. I highly recommend this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS2der4Ag_s

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