Tag Archive | "advertising"
Press Release
Consumer Watchdog Praises European Action on Google’s New Privacy Policy, Calls For FTC To Determine If Proposed Changes Violate Consent Agreement
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-7041; or cell: 310-292-1902
SANTA MONICA, CA – Consumer Watchdog today praised European data protection authorities for asking Google to delay implementation of its new privacy and data policies and said the U.S. Federal Trade Commission should determine whether the new policies violate the terms of Google’s consent agreement with the commission.
Continue reading...News Clipping
Measure to Ease Video-Rental Privacy Curbs Catches Flack in Senate
By Erika Morphy , TECHNEWSWORLD
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The law would allow Netflix and other providers to share movie titles not only with social-media outlets such as Facebook, but also with third-party partners. Privacy advocates hate the proposal. "It is a horrible idea," Consumer Watchdog's John M. Simpson told TechNewsWorld.
Continue reading...News Clipping
One Privacy Policy To Rule Them All: What Google’s Controversial New Terms of Service Could Mean To You
By Christian Blauvelt , ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY POPWATCH BLOG
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson points out that personalized advertisements targeted directly to a specific user, based on user-collected information, can be “a substantial amount” more lucrative than just an anonymous ad. And with all the information Google can collect about your interests from your searches, your Google Docs, and your favorite YouTube videos, they can figure out pretty specifically what ads they should show you. “They are positioning this as streamlining privacy,” Simpson says. “But that’s just PR. It’s all about better targeting for advertisers.”
Continue reading...News Clipping
Facebook Critics Hope IPO Forces Some Hard Questions
By Niraj Chokshi , NATIONAL JOURNAL
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
"It's hard to predict exactly what sort of gaffe they’ll do next, but it would not surprise me if there is yet another one," said John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project, noting some concerns over Facebook’s recent expansion of its Timeline feature, which makes it easier to visualize, share, and view users’ profile history.
Continue reading...News Clipping
Facebook’s IPO May Be the Last Straw for Privacy-Minded Users
By Erika Morphy , E-COMMERCE TIMES
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Even as a private company, Facebook had no problem pushing the envelope, Consumer Watchdog spokesperson Carmen Balber told the E-Commerce Times. "Facebook is already treading dangerous waters as far as privacy rights are concerned. The pressure to monetize consumers' user data will be greater when there are shareholders to satisfy."
Continue reading...News Clipping
Privacy Advocates Fiercely Furrow Brows at Google
By Richard Adhikari , TECHNEWSWORLD.COM
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The announcement of the changes sparked concern among privacy watchdogs both in the United States and the European Union. "Consumers' online privacy is being eroded," growled John Simpson, a consumer advocate at Consumer Watchdog.
Continue reading...Press Release
Consumer Watchdog Calls For President Obama to Endorse Do Not Track and Online Privacy Legislation During State of the Union Message
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-0522 x317, or cell: 310-292-1902
Friday, January 20, 2012
WASHINGTON, DC – Consumer Watchdog today called on President Obama to use the State of the Union message to endorse baseline privacy legislation and support Do Not Track regulations that would give consumers control of whether their information is gathered while they use the Internet.
Continue reading...News Clipping
Criminal Probe Into Online Mortgage Scams Widens
By Michael Liedtke , ASSOCIATED PRESS
Monday, November 21, 2011
Consumer Watchdog, a group that published a study about mortgage ad scams nine months ago, is calling for criminal charges and financial penalties against the major search engines in the current investigation. "These Internet company executives were active enablers of fraud against vulnerable homeowners," said John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog's privacy project. "They cannot be allowed to benefit from these ill-gotten gains."
Continue reading...News Clipping
Bing, Yahoo Agree to Remove Mortgage Ads
By Josh Smith , NATIONAL JOURNAL
Monday, November 21, 2011
Consumer Watchdog, a group that frequently criticizes Google, wasted no time on Monday calling for executives at Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo to be charged with crimes for allowing the ads to go up in the first place.
Continue reading...News Clipping
Feds Target Mortgage Ad Scams On Bing, Yahoo
By Jay Greene , CNET.COM
Monday, November 21, 2011
"Clearly Microsoft and Yahoo have been turning a blind eye to these scammers," said John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project. "Simply put, too many Internet companies including Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo--under the guise of an open Internet--allow and even encourage scam ads from which they make millions of dollars."
Continue reading...Press Release
Consumer Watchdog Calls For Criminal Charges Against Internet Executives As Feds Shut Down Scam Ads On Bing and Yahoo! After Earlier Action Focusing On Google
CONTACT: John M. Simpson , 310-392-0522 x317
Monday, November 21, 2011
SANTA MONICA CA – Consumer Watchdog today said executives of leading Internet companies Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! should face criminal charges for their roles in allowing mortgage modification ad scammers to advertise on their sites.
Continue reading...News Clipping
Google Profited From Illegal Mortgage Ads
By Emma Woollacott , TGDAILY.COM
Thursday, November 17, 2011
"Google should never have published these ads, but its executives turned a blind eye to these fraudsters for far too long because of the substantial revenue such advertising generates," says John Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project. "The company cannot be allowed to benefit from these ill-gotten gains. Google must donate the money to aid homeowners who were victimized because of its callous quest for profits."
Continue reading...News Clipping
Feds Shut Down Mortgage Scammers Who Used Google Ads
By Jay Greene , CNET.COM
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
One Google critic, the public advocacy firm, Consumer Watchdog, wants Google held accountable. It put out a report in February blasting Google for taking these fraudulent ads. They suggest that Google be fined in order to help compensate the victims of these scams.
Continue reading...
Video Player
Consumer Watchdog’s Carmen Balber discusses Internet privacy and the need for an online “Do Not Track Me” list.
Become an Insider
- Watch our new Times Square video: Don't Be Evil?
- Google using search engine to muscle into Internet businesses, study finds
- Can Google explain this search result?
- We have taken the “Do Not Track Me” fight to Times Square!
- You can take action now...
- Dr Janice Duffy: Good on you for calling Google out on this issue. ...
- Panama corporation: The Dublin subsidiary which employs almost 2 000 p...
- Janice: I am not sure but I think I have experienced the s...
- Bob: Yeah, analytics must be a separate company. It's ...
- Bob: I think you guys should start a forum so people ca...
Donate Today
Note: clicking the link will take you to our partner page.
Friday, February 3, 2012
0 Comments