Facebook CEO dearly paid for Google and Apple’s mistakes
Mark has been the scapegoat. The owner of Facebook, the founder and creator of this great program that has connected millions of people around the world, has paid the consequences. Facebook made a simple slip and now the world, the users, its competitors and all those who wanted to save their skin in one way or another have been spared thanks to the indiscretion of Cambridge Analytics and Zuckerberg who has assumed all the blame related to the revelation of data for own and business benefits. However, in Silicon Valley, where the majority dream of being great programmers and the billionaires flourish as if it were an eternal spring, Mark is not the only predator of advertising agencies.
Yes, it is true that Facebook executives unleashed the stirrups of the steed when they let "escape" 87 million profiles that were very well used by a company like Cambridge Analytics, specialized in making voter profiles, which could be manipulated or at least lead Donald Trump’s campaign towards the interests of the Republican candidate.
It is also true that Zuckerberg is one of the youngest billionaires in the world precisely thanks to people who voluntarily "have fun" in that immense and cosmopolitan club that Facebook is. But Mark is not the only tender bar that benefits from our addiction to his services, the advertising segment includes, for you to have a notion, $ 650,000 million dollars with quite creative and technological companies that struggle to reach each one of them.
Google, according to the Miami Herald figures, has more than doubled the Facebook market. The technological titan, that accumulates three times the Big Data of Facebook, became and – without offending any Christian - in the “god” of the networks, since is omnipresent in almost all the lives of us, humble mortals.
Does this mean that Google is more ethical than Facebook? I do not think so. Does it receive fewer benefits? Neither. Simply, the "crazy" programmers have done their job better, despite the playful aspect of the Google offices.
Jason Kint Aparte, CEO of Digital Content Next, believes that “while Facebook receives the blows, perhaps no other company is paying more attention to the matter than Google”. Google is not very different from Mark's company. It also collects information and user data, even YouTube itself has segmented its ad selections. In order to set a clear idea of what we are talking about, Facebook has 2000 million users in the world, while Google has more than 1,000 million in every of its services. Translated into the world of advertising and marketing, it is a Superbowl, they generate more potential users than the grand final of the National Football League in which 30 seconds ad can capture the attention of more than 200 million viewers only once a year, while we consult networks daily and expose ourselves to advertising.
During the hearing in the Senate, Zuckerberg did not want to remain silent and quickly tried to turn his eyes towards Google and the rest of the competitors, but the "missiles" were already on him, the scapegoat of Sillicon Valley. Zuckerberg even "sold" the rest of the "big" ones claiming that Google also exercised the same practices, but it did not help too much.
Google has shown that it not only has excellent and top-notch services, but also that its executives know how to evade the "missiles" of critics using their profit techniques. Taking advantage of the Facebook’s slip, Google through Aaron Stein, reiterated that they are "completely focused on protecting the data of our users." However, it has been left out regarding other issues in which Facebook has taken the step forward to draw the attention away. Google has recently supported the Honest Ads Act, a Senate bill on transparency and stricter rules for political ads on the Internet. Amy Klobuchar, Democratic Senator for Minnesota, asked for Google's support, but she is still waiting for an answer.
On the other hand, Apple has publicly said that it does not want to know anything about revenue generated with customer information. Tim Cook has already made it explicit in several interviews.
Amazon is another of the titans of Sillicon Valley that generates profits for advertising, especially because through data collected, it manages to focus the ads and the market. However, Forrester Research says that Amazon only made $ 2.5 billion last year, unlike the $ 39.9 billion of Facebook and Google’s $ 95.4 billion.
Then, it is not strange to think that with these amounts of money the owners of these companies are in the millionaires’ world top ten. So it does not matter who pays for the broken silver if there is enough money to do so...