You can always rely on the EDGE for insightful analysis of the latest digital marketing headlines in the bonus news roundup segment of each episode. The latest features host Erin Sparks and Creative Studio Producer Jacob Mann along with special guest Bill Sebald, Founder of Greenlane Marketing. Here’s the bonus news roundup from Episode 353 of the award-winning EDGE of the Web podcast:
Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx are collecting more customer data than they appear to be
From Chaim Gartenberg on The Verge we learn that Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx are collecting more customer data than they appear to be. Consumer Reports has analyzed the privacy policies of Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx and discovered that they may be collecting more data than many people realize. To be clear: Consumer Reports isn’t saying that these apps are unsafe to use (a separate Mozilla report found that nearly every major videoconferencing app meets basic security standards). But by agreeing to the privacy policies of these services, you are giving companies like Google and Microsoft access to plenty of personal data. According to the report, all three companies reserve the right to collect information from your calls, including how long a call lasts, who’s participating in the call, and the IP addresses of everyone taking part.
- Erin Sparks: Obviously, a lot more people are using these platforms way more right now than they did before the pandemic, and those who are scrutinizing the details of their security and privacy policies are somewhat alarmed by what they see. And of course, Zoom had to roll out some patches and information to prevent the dreaded Zoom-bombing phenomenon.
- Bill Sebald: We had actually switched from UberConference to Zoom, and we really liked Zoom. And then we got Zoom-bombed by a telemarketer robocall that popped into our meeting. But we know how to prevent that and we continue to use Zoom because it’s such a great platform.
- Erin Sparks: We’ve certainly been put through the wringer on privacy and user data with platforms like Facebook. Were these platforms ready for this incredible increase in use and are users really aware of what’s happening with their data and privacy?
- Bill Sebald: People, in general, have a funny way of thinking about these privacy issues. We know there are all these issues, but does anyone even now take the time to read the fine print of privacy policies? The answer is large no. We wait for someone else to do it and say there’s an issue in the fine print and then get upset about it. And then I have to ask myself, is the data they’re collecting really all that important? Like meeting length, who cares if they collect that? So it’s a tradeoff to some extent and not so alarming.
- Erin Sparks: Yes, some user data has to be collected to even make the platforms work properly and meet needs, but how far is too far?
- Bill Sebald: It just depends on what the data is, really. Now, if doctors are doing telemedicine and the platform can easily be hacked and people can get HIPPA-protected data, obviously, that’s a big problem. But most of the data being discussed right now just isn’t all that sensitive and doesn’t raise any alarm bells for me.
Google: No, We Have Not Slowed Crawling Because Of COVID-19
According to Barry Schwartz on Search Engine Roundtable, Google says No, We Have Not Slowed Crawling Because Of COVID-19. “I am not sure where this is coming from but this is the second time I am covering a topic about Google slowing crawling and indexing because of COVID-19 and the coronavirus. I covered it a few weeks ago and now John Mueller of Google had to say again, that Google is not slowing crawling sites because of this virus outbreak.”
- Erin Sparks: So Google keeps trying to lay this issue to rest. They do not adjust the speed of crawling in response to contextual events or issues. Google relies entirely on fast crawling to serve up relevant search results, so they’re simply not going to mess with crawl speeds. Mueller’s tongue-in-cheek response to one such inquiry about throttling was basically, “Nope. Computers seem to be unaffected by this virus.”
- Bill Sebald: No, there is no logic to Google intentionally slowing down their crawling. Why would they do that?
- Erin Sparks: It’s not really all that important, and it’s at their discretion anyway.
Have we hit bottom yet? What new earnings reports say about COVID’s impact on digital advertising
On Search Engine Land, Ginny Marvin asks, Have we hit bottom yet? What new earnings reports say about COVID’s impact on digital advertising. The hit in mid-March was sudden and dramatic, but there appear to be signs, including from media buyers, that the worst is over. The statements come from each company’s formal quarterly press releases or earnings calls for the period ending March 31, 2020. They reflect the sudden impact of COVID-19 on their ad businesses in the final weeks of the quarter, dulling what had been a strong start to the year.
- Erin Sparks: A slowdown with shrinkage made sense, although a few saw big increases.
- Bill Sebald: We certainly had clients who have been hit hard by the economic shutdown and had to slow down their ad spends significantly, and a couple who decided to stop altogether until things change. And I certainly hope we’ve hit bottom so things can only go up from here.
- Erin Sparks: And many of the ads running are mentioning coronavirus, but consumers may quickly get corona-weary. There are already signs of that.
Connect with Bill Sebald and Greenlane Marketing
Twitter: @billsebald (https://twitter.com/billsebald)
Greenlane Marketing: https://www.greenlanemarketing.com
Greenlane Twitter: @greenlane_team (https://twitter.com/Greenlane_Team)
Greenlane Facebook: @greenlaneteam (https://www.facebook.com/greenlaneteam)
Greenlane Instagram: @greenlane_team (https://www.instagram.com/greenlane_team)
Greenlane LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/greenlane-marketing
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