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You may have noticed large Internet companies disregarding consumer choice lately. If so, you’re not imagining things. Some companies are making a series of “walled-garden” moves where the interaction that occurs is within the confines of their service and the service then tracks you online.

LinkedIn announced that they were doing exact that level of tracking two weeks ago. The most famous of the walled gardens was AOL in the mid-1990s. To access the Internet, AOL subscribers first went to AOL.

With most people once again dependent on a handful of platforms for most of their online interactions, walled gardens are returning.

Want to use ad-blocking software? You may get caught in a tug-of-war between Facebook and ad-blocking software. We have a story below for you to read.

Google is behaving in a similar way, starting to make some data unavailable for smaller advertisers. The important distinction is not advertisers, but smaller advertisers. That’s another sort of control, and we have that story for you this week too.

What does all this mean for you? Less interaction opportunities and certainly more requirements to play by big company rules. Inertia will drive their growth through the coming years. It’s their garden. We’re  invited to take in the sights.

But we’ve learned that small businesses and non-profits can beat larger, more established brands and the media that serve those brands. We’ve seen local restaurants succeed against chains and small theater companies beat local entertainment competitors in advertising.

These walled gardens occur when giant firms forget that small organizations are nimble enough to change and succeed when faced with new challenges. Your organization wins because you can outmaneuver the others.

Talk with us about your strategy if you’re feeling the walled garden pinch. You can email me at george@silverbeaconmarketing.com.

Adblock Plus Claims It Beat Facebook’s Ad-Block Force Field

Adblock Plus issued an update to its software that it says circumvents Facebook’s newly released ad-block remedy, signaling another round of cat and mouse.

Google officially throttling Keyword Planner data for low spending AdWords accounts

Google officially throttling Keyword Planner data for low spending AdWords accounts

Not a big AdWords spender? You may notice a lack of data in your Keyword Planner account.

Think Amazon’s Drone Delivery Is A Gimmick? Think Again.

Its logistics investments have also fed the general theory that Amazon has become essentially unbeatable in American e-commerce

Here’s Why Facebook Is so Desperate to Buy, Copy or Kill Snapchat

The power of Snapchat rests on two of its core features, which Facebook keeps trying to duplicate after its spurned $3 billion offer 3 years ago.

News

Our Laws Aren’t Equipped for Online Privacy Issues

This week’s news is packed with information about online privacy. LinkedIn is going to start tracking your interaction with LinkedIn services even if you’re not logged in, your phone’s battery status tells marketers where you are, and the FCC chair told The Washington Post that he doesn’t like where online privacy is headed.

Nothing you type, send, or share online is private. We wrote several weeks ago that Facebook admitted that programmers with access to their data warehouse could find links privately shared between members of your organization.

Advocates continue scrambling to find new ways of protecting consumer interests. But consumers are often willing to trade their information for free services. Facebook and Google, arguably North America’s two most important online consumer websites, have business models based on “consuming the consumer”.

This isn’t the first time that business model has been used. Minimalist artist Richard Serra gave an interview in the 1970s where he quoted the short film, “Television Delivers”. Serra explained that the entire television model was based on delivering consumers to advertisers. That business model thrives today online, augmented by the collection of new data and the digitization of existing data.

Everything from our cars to our televisions to our thermostats–even our medical equipment–is collected, aggregated, analyzed, and packaged for advertising. Consider that every website you visit, every video you watch, search you make, or message you type is stored in many places and eventually added to the record that becomes your digital footprint.

Check with us if you need help with your organization’s online marketing. Write me at george@silverbeaconmarketing.com for help.

Highlights from this week’s news about privacy

This Company Has Built a Profile on Every American Adult

Every move you make. Every click you take. Every game you play. Every place you stay. They’ll be watching you.

LinkedIn Revises Cookie Policy | SocialTimes
LinkedIn Revises Cookie Policy | SocialTimes

LinkedIn announced that it will track users’ interaction with its services for up to 30 days after users log out of their accounts, with the aim of generating usage analytics.

Your Internet privacy shouldn’t be a ‘luxury item,’ this regulator says – The Washington Post

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler doesn’t like what Internet providers want to do.

Which Form of Two-Factor Authentication Should I Use?

Two-factor authentication is one of the most important ways to protect your accounts. Lifehacker ranks the most common methods by how secure they really are.

Your battery status is being used to track you online

Battery status indicators are being used to track devices, say researchers from Princeton University – meaning warnings of privacy exposure have come to pass.

Facebook Wants to Rid Your News Feed of Clickbait

And then you won’t believe what happened next!  Those types of teases and headlines may soon start disappearing from Facebook.

News

Even Toddlers Know Not to Steal

We know we sometimes sound preachy about copyright.

Before technology changed, people copying art or photographs or writing were called thieves.

See? Being adamant about intellectual property rights is easy if you try.

Few of us are perfect or blameless. We’ve copied someone else’s work, even if only to email a photo to a friend. But who knows where that photographer’s work goes after that? And that’s one of the big issues that creative talents face.

We look at some developing stories in online marketing and intellectual property rights that surfaced this week. Protecting your organization’s rights and training your team so that they know you won’t tolerate their using someone else’s work is a good first step.

And you know those YouTube videos that have a line claiming that the copyright belongs to someone else? They’re just posting this for “entertainment” or some silly excuse? All that person did was admit to the artist’s attorney that they knew they were stealing. Don’t do that. Especially don’t do it at work.

We aren’t attorneys. The Silver Beacon family includes an award-winning photographer, and we have photography and book clients. And we know that most people are generally good and want to do the right thing.

Check with us if you need help or a good attorney referral.

Photographer Files $1 Billion Suit Against Getty for Licensing Her Public Domain Images

The craziest digital story of 2016 (so far)! Photographer Carol Highsmith received a letter from Getty Images accusing her of copyright infringement for featuring one of her own photographs on her own website. And then the story gets really weird…

Stolen Content Outranking You? Tell Google!
Stolen Content Outranking You? Tell Google!

Google knows. We all know that some sites steal content. Google’s John Mueller offered this week to act as go-between between your website and Google if someone steals your stuff. Google may be tough to deal with, but Mueller is a gem.

New Device Reports and Benchmarks
New Device Reports and Benchmarks

60% of US Internet users start shopping on one device and finish on another. WOW! Google AdWords has some new reporting to help discover the interactions on your website. 6 of 10 is a big number.

9 times early web marketing completely went off the rails
9 times early web marketing completely went off the rails

Would you tattoo a website on your forehead for $4,000? Or change your name? These are just some of the things online marketers have tried. Don’t do this stuff either.