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Huawei Ads (And the deeper meaning behind the Apple-Facebook data war)

By October 26, 2021No Comments

Huawei Ads (And the deeper meaning behind the Apple-Facebook data war)

Ok, so we’re seeing Huawei launch their own ad platform.

How is it gonna work?

All Huawei device users, estimated to be over 600 million at the moment, will be served ads within the device, similar to native ads.

Placement: This means that the ads will display within the mobile browser as well as in the app.

Accuracy: So here’s the crazy part. It’s likely that Huawei will have a superior data-collection solution because they’re able to track every move and click of the mobile user, day and night. They could technically have your camera and microphone on and keep listening to what you’re talking about, even if you only agreed to this via the small print in the terms and conditions agreement.

So what kind of data can they could possibly gather:

-our age, ethnicity, sex, health from facial recognition data
– our ethnicity from fingerprints data
– our interests, relationship status, etc. from microphone, camera data
– our net worth, travel habits, sports and activities, etc. from location data
– interests and tons of other data from screen recording analysis (image and text recognition)
– our behavior dependent on app scrolling, tapping the screen, unlocking the screen, etc. etc.

This is absolutely crazy. Scary, almost. But it’s more than likely that this is where things are heading. Who’s gonna be on top of that?

We will see.

Is there anything that can stop them?

First of all, EU regulations. The European Union is pushing for more data privacy so that European businesses can compete with US-based businesses. US businesses have much better access to data, since all big data companies are US owned. Data privacy laws are a way for EU businesses to even the odds, so we may see more regulation coming soon.

Second: Google. Let’s not forget Android is owned by Google, which may not like Huawei Ads too much, especially since Google is pushing their own hardware (Google Pixel, etc.) and software (Chrome, maps, etc.). If Google doesn’t like Huawei’s plans, they may want to create their own software from scratch, but this will take time.

Now, this is my bet…what Huawei Ads is doing right now is the real goal of Apple.

The reason Apple is pushing data privacy now is not because they care about consumers. The point is to get some of the ad revenue away from Facebook and make more profit.

In fact, I would bet all my money that we will see Apple ads within the next 12-24 months.

Think about all the advantages they have. It’s not only the iOS and devices, but the whole closed ecosystem that can literally know anything about us. Not to mention Apple users are a premium customer segment. And it’s all sold under the umbrella of a company that cares about user privacy.

So yes, Facebook is getting worse lately. But it will improve, and advertisers will adapt. At the same time, new opportunities will emerge and the point is to use the change to your advantage. This is the true growth-hacking mindset.

At SalesGenomics, we’re always on the lookout for what works in marketing. And this always comes down to 2 things:

– marketing fundamentals
– technology

Sometimes we can rely more on the former, other times on the latter.

For example, while Facebook is getting rid of advanced tracking data, we are reestablishing our testing methodology, focusing on broader market products and advertorials, as it used to be, back in the day.

Whenever a new platform arises, we are the first to test it and the first to know whether it is the new big thing.

‘Cause the new big thing is eventually going to come, and if it does, you better be on it.

We do all these tests both with willing clients and on our own stores, but the ultimate beneficiary is anyone that works with us.

After 5 years of very intense work from the whole team, we’re finalizing building out the agency. One of the next steps may be a step into more advanced data analysis in the form of a proprietary SaaS. But that’s something for another post.

In the meantime, stay tuned!