By Kevin McCauley
Consumer Watchdog has paid for a digital ad in New York’s Times Square, blasting Google for denying the consumer advocacy group’s challenge for a debate over the search giant’s online privacy policies.
The Jumbotron ad displays an image of a chicken labeled with Google’s logo and asks: “Why won’t Google debate your privacy with Consumer Watch?”
Jamie Court, founder of CW, notes that Google is discussing “new frontiers of ad exploitation” in presentations during this week’s AdWeek.
The company is “sponsoring political discussions at Washington events, but won’t engage in a meaningful discussions of the company’s most fundamental issue: online privacy,” according to Court.
A CW poll in July found that 80 percent of respondents support a “Do Not Track Me” bill patterned on the Federal Trade Commission’s “Do Not Call” list aimed at telemarketers.
There is almost universal support (86 percent of respondents) for an “anonymous button” to prevent marketers/research companies from tracking online purchases.
CW did score one victory over Google. The search company initially refused to air ads criticizing Google though its “AdWords” program, but then dropped that opposition after CW penned a letter of protest to Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
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