The Pitch to Use Device Microphones for Ad Targeting

Hey Kaitlyn, Joseph here with a bit of an update and some impact. Do you remember 'Active Listening', that advertising capability we revealed last year that claimed to target ads based on what people said into microphones? Well, we got a leaked pitch deck for the product, which provides some more info. It has also resulted in Google kicking the company marketing service off of Google's own advertising Partners Program. The article and document itself are below.

Media giant Cox Media Group (CMG) says it can target adverts based on what potential customers said out loud near device microphones, and explicitly points to Facebook, Google, Amazon, and Bing as CMG partners, according to a CMG presentation obtained by 404 Media.

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The slide deck provides more information, and raises more questions, about CMG’s advertised capability which it calls Active Listening. In December, 404 Media first reported on Active Listening’s existence using pitches from CMG’s website before the company deleted that information. The presentation, which the company has sent to at least one company it was courting to buy its Active Listening services, shows how CMG was marketing the product to companies who may want to target potential customers based on data allegedly sourced from device microphones. Google has kicked CMG from its advertising Partners Program after 404 Media asked Google for comment on the slide deck.

“The power of voice (and our devices’ microphones),” the slide deck starts. “Smart devices capture real-time intent data by listening to our conversations. Advertisers can pair this voice-data with behavioral data to target in-market consumers. We use AI to collect this data from 470+ sources to improve campaign deployment, targeting and performance.”

The deck does not say where CMG allegedly sources this voice data, be that a particular brand of smart TV, a smart speaker, or smartphone loaded with a particular app. It says that once it has used the voice data to identify an audience that is “ready-to-buy,” CMG builds a list of those audience members and uploads it to ad platforms to then target advertisements. It says for $100 a day, CMG can target people in a 10-mile radius, or $200 a day for a 20-mile radius.

The deck claims CMG partners with Google, Amazon, and Facebook. Specifically, it says CMG is a Google Premier Partner, which means they are in the top three percent of participating advertisers in a given country; that CMG was Amazon Advertising’s first media partner; and that it was one of the first media companies to become a Facebook marketing partner. Presumably the slide is talking about advertising in general in this context, and not necessarily the Active Listening product specifically.

Another slide specifically says CMG’s capability targets “Google/Bing” with the list of potential customers.

Google told 404 Media in a statement that “All advertisers must comply with all applicable laws and regulations as well as our Google Ads policies, and when we identify ads or advertisers that violate these policies, we will take appropriate action.” The company said it had removed CMG from the Partners Program after a Google review.

Amazon told 404 Media in a statement that “Amazon Ads has never worked with CMG on this program and has no plans to do so.” The company added that if it becomes aware that a partner is in violation of its marketing guidelines, it may take what it sees as appropriate action.

Meta said it cannot comment on specific advertiser accounts, but said that advertisers need to have the necessary rights to use any data as part of their campaigns. After Google removed CMG, Meta told 404 Media that it is looking into whether CMG violated the company's terms and conditions, and said it will take action if it believes it is necessary.

Press relations representatives for Microsoft said in an email that the company “has nothing to share at this time,” and did not respond when asked if it planned to take any action like Google did.

Another slide lays out “next steps” for companies who are interested in using CMG’s voice data product. That includes a series of internal and client meetings in the lead up to an advertising campaign launch.

When 404 Media originally reported on Active Listening in December, CMG’s website said “What would it mean for your business if you could target potential clients who are actively discussing their need for your services in their day-to-day conversations? No, it's not a Black Mirror episode—it's Voice Data, and CMG has the capabilities to use it to your business advantage.” CMG deleted this page from its website following publication of our piece.

404 Media also reported that employees of MindSift, a tiny New Hampshire-based company, boasted on their own podcast about targeting advertisements by listening to peoples’ everyday conversations through microphones in their smart speakers. After publication of that piece, MindSift’s social media went dormant and the company wiped mentions of the voice data capability from their Instagram page. 

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