In a pitch deck to potential clients, one in all Facebook’s alleged advertising companions explained how it listens to users’ phone microphones and advertises to them for this reason. As 404 Media reports based on files leaked to its reporters, the TV and radio information giant Cox Media Group (CMG) claims that its so-referred to as “Active Listening” software program uses synthetic intelligence to “capture actual-time reason facts by using paying attention to our conversations.”
“Advertisers can pair this voice-data with behavioral data to goal in-market customers,” the deck continues. In the equal slideshow, CMG counted Facebook, Google, and Amazon as clients, even though it failed to specify whether or not they were involved in the “Active Listening” provider. After 404 reached out to Google approximately its partnership, the tech massive eliminated the media group from the web page for its “Partners Program.”
A Meta spokesperson also driven again in a assertion, saying that CMG became a preferred partner, now not a partner in the software advertised within the deck. “Meta does now not use your smartphone’s microphone for ads and we’ve been public about this for years,” the statement read. “We are reaching out to CMG to get them to make clear that their software isn’t always based totally on Meta records.” And an Amazon spokesperson advised 404 that its Ads arm “has by no means worked with CMG in this application and has no plans to do so.”
