Google Screenwise: How Much Is Your Privacy Worth?
This article is not directly related to Google Adwords, however it seems to me to be news worth sharing.
A few days ago I was reading an article in KurzweilAI about a new Google service called Screenwise Panel which was released in conjunction with Knowledge Networks.
In a way very similar to the method used by Neilsen to measure television ratings, Screenwise will take a deep dive into the way people use the Internet on a daily basis.
You can participate in the panel voluntarily through two methods:
1) With a Chrome extension that will be in charge of collecting information about your use of the different websites you visit.
Google will pay 5US$ on Amazon Gift Cards by installing the extension and others 5US$ extras every 3 months (25US$ in total the first year).
2) Installing a replacement router provided by Google, which performs a much more extensive and in-depth data collection and monitoring task than the browser extension.
This option is available only to Knowledge Networks members and will pay 100US$ for installation startshe and then 20US$ extras per month.
An ever-present question for many companies on the Internet that provide free services in exchange for collecting information from users (Google, Facebook, etc.) is knowing how much their privacy is worth and to what extent they are willing to expose themselves.
In this case, Google asks this question directly and offers "real" money to users who participate voluntarily.
According to an article in ArsTechnica, among the legal agreements when registering to participate in the panel, Google may share this information with third parties such as: academic institutions, advertisers, publishers and programming networks.
However, no further information is offered on the operation of the Chrome extension or the Black Router.
Google is one of the largest advertising companies in the world, so it would not be strange that they are now also looking to become one of the largest data consuming companies. Screenwise could be a first experiment to delve into that industry.
The lucrative applications that this type of information could have are numerous and would serve practically all types of businesses, since it would allow to know both the strengths and the weaknesses of how users use the websites of the competition.
Today Screenwise Panel is in the development stage and the applications are no longer open due to the large number of users who applied to participate in the first days after announcing this new panel.
You can get more information at the following link: Screenwise
