Minutive, Vol. 27: Google’s Hardware Shift, iOS Ad Targeting, and More.

Can Google Shift Its Revenue Model From Advertising to Products?
BY MIKE BLUMENTHAL AND YOURS TRULY

An extended discussion of the themes from last week’s Minutive–Google’s tripled-down its focus on voice-enabled AI-everywhere hardware. Has it stockpiled enough advertising cash, and can it change its culture quickly enough, to pull off the shift?

Not OK, Google

BY NATASHA LOMAS
Then there’s this brilliant piece from Natasha Lomas which questions whether consumers will trade their privacy to a “shamelessly terrifying” multinational corporation for the convenience of this new technology. My favorite lines:

(Sure, there’s a mute button on the Google Home, but the fact you have to push a button to shut off the ear speaks volumes… )

So the actual price for building a “personal Google for everyone, everywhere” would in fact be zero privacy for everyone, everywhere.

28 days later: What happened to Limit Ad Tracking?

BY SIMON KENDALL
This study from Adjust is the ultimate Rorschach Test on this question–20%+ of American iOS users have disabled privacy-invasive ads. Which seems like a pretty high number, given how hidden the setting is…but it also means 80% either don’t know about how invasive these new mobile technologies can be, or don’t care.

Facebook, Twitter cut off data access for Geofeedia, a social media surveillance startup
BY LORA KOLODNY

Facebook and Twitter join Apple in their sensitivity to revealing this data to advertisers (and the NSA). Also a cautionary tale on the vulnerability of technology companies whose businesses are built on the backs of such a limited set of third-party APIs.

Gordon Borrell On Why Facebook Is Killing It In Local Advertising

BY SARAH SLUIS / GORDON BORRELL
Meanwhile, Facebook geotargeted ads remain the undisputed best ROI for many kinds of local businesses. And Facebook’s ability to reach them at scale without a feet-on-the-street salesforce or a significant investment in channel sales has been tremendous.

Is There Too Much Focus on the Top of the Funnel in SMB Solutions?

BY GREG STERLING
Couldn’t agree more with Greg’s sentiment here. But unfortunately too many local businesses prioritize acquisition over retention. Some products like Perch’s Social Presence Optimizer (mentioned here a few weeks ago) are trying to tackle this issue, but not enough of them.

Slightly Off-Topic:
We Need to Save the Internet from the Internet of Things

BY BRUCE SCHNEIER
By this point regular readers know I’m a total Luddite when it comes to the Internet of Things. But here’s an angle to my Luddism I hadn’t yet considered–the exponential increase in the number of available nodes through which to propagate DDoS attacks.