Today some Google Home owners reported hearing something extra when they asked for a summary of the day ahead from the smart speaker: an advertisement for the opening of Beauty and the Beast. Several users on Reddit have noticed the audio ad and Bryson Meunier posted a clip to Twitter. Some Android users also reported hearing the ad through Google Assistant on mobile.
And from the Total Bullshit Dpt., also known as Google PR:
This wasn’t intended to be an ad. What’s circulating online was a part of our My Day feature, where after providing helpful information about your day, we sometimes call out timely content. We’re continuing to experiment with new ways to surface unique content for users and we could have done better in this case.
It was an ad, plain and simple. A corporate statement like this, which is clearly, utterly, 100% a lie, should be illegal, and punishable by massive fines. This kind of callous behaviour is a disgrace.
Well being that our President says a major lie at least once a day and a new one at least once a week there is no way Google will. E held as illigal. Lol.
I hope you understand why I was obligated to downvote this comment as “Off-topic”.
Because as a Trump sympathizer you feel disturbed by any OT directed against him? Or just because you are very rigorous in downvoting OTs?
Windows Sucks,
One of these days we’re going to be faced with a national crisis, but it will be very difficult to trust that anything he says is not BS. He’s already lost all credibility for honesty. Owing to his compulsive lying, trump does not deserve the benefit of a doubt.
It used to be “Don’t be evil”, but now apparently they dropped the “don’t”.
So… it’s not ad spam, it’s unique and timely content.
So, let’s summarise: If you are buying into this whole IoT thing, you are signing up to be subjected to annoying advert… err unique and timely content, planned obsolescence, a degree of vendor-lock-in that greatly surpasses the ones found in most desktop OSes and most mobile OSes (even iOS allows you to use non-Apple online servces, but those IoT devices only connect to the online services of their vendor) and of course the good ol’ unpatched security whole which will make sure you will be a valuable money making opportunity to hackers and bot-herders.
Yup, sounds like a deal. Sign me up! (not)
Edited 2017-03-17 00:37 UTC
Surely, it’s not that hard: will mentioning this increase revenue for something that is being sold? Then yes, it’s an advertisement.
I’m not sure there’s many false positives with that simple criteria.
My rich friends spend half their day interacting with these speaking/listening devices. “Alexa – do this”, “Alexa – what’s that?”, for every question and everything they need to do all day.
It’s more annoying than googling everything immediately. Instant experts everywhere. No thanks. Until they invent the holodeck or the replicator i’m not interesting in talking to the computer.
Here’s a modern scene I witnessed the other night at a friend’s house: kids at the table doing homework, dad helping his 3rd grader. “How many cups in a quart?” asks the dad, looking ahead on her homework. She pauses and thinks, then says “Alexa – how many cups in a quart?” Of course Alexa answers. Dad seems a bit confused but then says “OK, yeah, right answer”.
I’m standing by the mom watching this and we both say the same thing under our breath to each other – why do homework with Alexa around? How can any of it be verified as your actual best guess?
Why learn any smallish fact at all when AI is there to give you the fact of the matter w/o needed to lift a single finger?
Edited 2017-03-17 13:25 UTC
I had to look up on Google how many pints are in a quart, because in the UK we use “imperial” pints and quarts and virtually no-one in the UK uses the term “quart” (next imperial step up from a pint that UK people know is usually a gallon).
Quarts? How quaint.
Shows how behind the times the USA is… Only Joking.
The main point of the post is just the tip of the iceberg. Soon we will see something counting the adverts we have been subject to each and every day. IF you have not had enough of your mandated daily fix of adverts you will get them think and fast before you go to bed.
Then the likes of Alexa will monitor what you buy and how you respond to the adverts. Not bought enough? more adverts. Responded badly to adverts? More adverts.
your life was totally dominated by personlised adverts.
I read A SF story many years ago where the above scenarions were the main thread and how the refusniks fought back.
I hate all forms of advertising and deliberately do not buy anything that has been advertised to me.
It’s a quarter gallon, 8/4 = 2 pints. Not in so much common usage now, but it’s not so obscure. It used to be a common size for paint tins.
Does this really surprise anyone? This is Google. They’re an ad company first and foremost. Duh. Did anyone actually buy one of these things with any other expectation?
Ads are timely content. If you watch Ads from the 80s, you know they are from the 80s. If that timely content they played for these folks was played 5 years ago, it wouldn’t have been timely content. It would have been pre-timely content. We’d need the pre-time police unit!
” and we could have done better in this case.”
Well they admitted they did a bad job.
This is kind of a first-world problem. We should probably dial back the reaction a bit.
If the idiotic people who purchase these overhyped stupid “home” Internet connected devices didn’t think they’d have to deal with ads eventually then they were delusional. This is like being shocked when a commercial comes on network television! Either deal with it or do what normal people do and check the weather and news on your phone or from a newspaper!