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Google announces prototype for audio contextual advertising

by Darren

King Google has been totally mad for awhile now, but lately, the product releases and ideas are getting more bizarre. According to TechCrunch, Google is now aiming at launching a new eavesdropping technology.

The implications of this product are astounding. If there aren’t politicians working on stopping this type of product, there need to be. This is one of those ideas where any merit could be easily wiped out by the wrong use of the technology.

Techcrunch also links to the Google Research Blogspot which announces the project:

We showed how to sample the ambient sound emitted from a TV and automatically determine what is being watched from a small signature of the sound — all with complete privacy and minuscule effort. The system could keep up with users while they channel surf, presenting them with a real-time forum about a live political debate one minute and an ad-hoc chat room for a sporting event in the next.

The customer/target gets one benefit from this? And at what cost? You give your privacy rights up and get what back in exchange? Couldn’t private discussion be some of the “ambient sound” being emitted in the room? The funny thing is, people probably don’t care. They figure if it makes their task of entertaining themselves easier, they’ll do it. Personally, I’ll never allow any company to have open pipe access into my home.

The technology itself is interesting, and more power to the researchers for their accomplishment, but what a sketchy application. Potential abuse would be too great and many problems could arise. What if Google monitored a conversation “accidentally” where a murder was plotted? Would they contact the authorities or pretend to ignore it?

This product leaves me flat. There’s no benefit I’d sign off on to allow my PC and microphone to broadcast audio from my house to a corporation. What do you think of this project?