Is Google Watching You?

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you  Kurt Cobain

Data is the driver to growth and profitability for the online advertising community.  No one knows this better than Google.  Every day, they are gathering more and more data on consumers and many consumers are completely unaware of this fact.  While lots of folks are sitting at home shredding mail, cutting up old credit cards and proclaiming that they will “never shop online”, Google sits by quietly watching every move they make online.

USA Today recently featured an article titled, “Google's G1 phone makes it easy to track surfing habits” written by Leslie Cauley.   The article goes into great detail as to the data that Google has (or will have) on consumers.  One key driver to the acquisition of this data is the G1 Mobile phone.

The G1 makes things much easier for Google to watch your every move.  Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy says, “It’s like a walking surveillance device”.  Cell phone and mobile devices are generally not shared; they are just used by one person.  This means that the data collected from that device is highly personalized to that individual and incredibly accurate.

Think about the power of an advertising company (yes,

Tom  Cuthbert