Google Paid Millions To Access Mastercard Purchase Data

Google

Google and Mastercard inked a behind-the-scenes deal in which certain Google advertisers had access to data that shows if an online ad resulted in a purchase in a physical store.

Bloomberg, citing four people with knowledge of the deal, reported advertisers have been using the new tool that scans Mastercard transactions that Google purchased from the credit card company. Its also not known to the two billion Mastercard holders because the two companies never publicly announced the data arrangement, reported Bloomberg.  The deal was a result of conversations between the two during the course of four years. The deal gives Google an ability to measure the impact digital ads have on physical retail spending unlike any of its rivals. It could also raise privacy issues since Google has been using and acquiring the data behind the scenes without the permission of the consumers. “People don’t expect what they buy physically in a store to be linked to what they are buying online,”  Christine Bannan, counsel with the advocacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) told Bloomberg in the report. “There’s just far too much burden that companies place on consumers and not enough responsibility being taken by companies to inform users what they’re doing and what rights they have.”

According to Bloomberg, Google spent millions of dollars to get the Mastercard data, with the two sides discussing the idea of sharing in the ad revenue. A Google spokeswoman told Bloomberg the search giant doesn’t have any revenue-sharing agreements with any of its partners. She declined to comment on the partnership but did discuss the ad tool. “Before we launched this beta product last year, we built a new, double-blind encryption technology that prevents both Google and our partners from viewing our respective users’ personally identifiable information,” the company said in a statement. “We do not have access to any personal information from our partners’ credit and debit cards, nor do we share any personal information with our partners.”  Meanwhile, Seth Eisen, a Mastercard spokesman, declined to comment on Google but did say the credit card company shares transaction trends with merchants and service providers so they can measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. He said information such as sales volume and the average size of purchase are only shared if the merchants give their permission. “No individual transaction or personal data is provided. We do not provide insights that track, serve up ads to, or even measure ad effectiveness relating to, individual consumers,” Eisen said in the statement.

Two people familiar with the talks told Bloomberg Google reached out to other payment companies about its tool, but it’s not clear if any other deals were inked. Google said the service works only with people who are logged into a Google account and haven’t opted out of ad tracking. With the tool, which Google is still testing, it can match a user’s profile with purchases he or she made in stores. The data service is being tested with a small group of advertisers in the U.S. with partners able to see sales figures and how much was due to a Google ad. They don’t see the personal information of the shopper, how much they spent or what they purchased, noted the report. It only applies to search and shopping ads, noted the report.

 


Elon Musk-Led Investor Group Submits Bid to Buy OpenAI Nonprofit

A group of investors led by Elon Musk reportedly submitted a bid to OpenAI’s board of directors Monday (Feb. 10) to buy the nonprofit that controls the company for $97.4 billion.

The unsolicited offer was submitted by Musk’s lawyer, Marc Toberoff, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Monday.

“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk said in a statement provided to WSJ by Toberoff, per the report. “We will make sure that happens.”

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a Monday post on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want,” referring to the Musk-owned X by its former name and offering one-tenth the price the group offered for the OpenAI nonprofit.

Musk and Altman are already engaged in a court battle over the future of OpenAI, which they co-founded as a charity in 2015, according to the WSJ report.

After Musk left the company and Altman became CEO, OpenAI created a for-profit subsidiary that has enabled it to raise money from Microsoft and other investors, the report said.

Now, Altman is turning the subsidiary into a traditional company and spinning out the nonprofit, which would own a stake in the for-profit firm, per the report.

Musk’s bid sets a high valuation on the nonprofit and could mean that the operator of the nonprofit would have a large and possibly controlling stake in the for-profit firm, the report said.

Toberoff told WSJ that the investor group will match or exceed any higher bids offered for the nonprofit, per the report.

It was reported Feb. 4 that Musk’s suit against OpenAI might proceed to trial, as a judge said parts of the case can move forward.

“Something is going to trial in this case,” U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said. “[Elon Musk will] sit on the stand, present it to a jury, and a jury will decide who is right.”

Musk has argued that OpenAI’s switch to a for-profit company goes against its original mission, while OpenAI has countered that the switch is necessary to help it land the type of investments it needs to develop the best AI models.