US telecoms multinationals Google and Verizon are planning ad-tracking networks to rival those of Facebook and AT&T. Verizon has installed “super cookies” to track sites visited by mobile users and pinpoint the location of the phone, while Google wants to use data it tracks and collects about customers on its networks for targeted ads. Google CEO Randall Stephenson said it would be hard to compete against AT&T and Facebook without a vertically integrated system from distribution through content creation.
US telecoms multinationals AT&T and Verizon are planning ad-tracking networks to rival those of Facebook and Google. Verizon has installed “super cookies” to track sites visited by mobile users and pinpoint the location of the phone, while AT&T wants to use data it tracks and collects about customers on its networks for targeted ads. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said it would be hard to compete against Google and Facebook without a vertically integrated system from distribution through content creation.