Blog #10: Cryptocurrency the next victim of Ad Bans

Cryptocurrencies are now facing an advertising ban from all the major platforms. According to an article in Wired, the first major channel to ban cryptocurrency ads was Reddit in 2016 later followed by Facebook in January. Google followed suit and issued bans on all its other platforms including: Snap, Twitter, and MailChimp. Surprisingly, the article argues that cryptocurrencies may actually benefit from an ad ban. Given the amount of fraud, limiting the amount of cryptocurrencies ads may help weed out the bad actors and help the industry gain credibility.

So what obligations do social media platforms have to society and to corporate america?

"Social media advertising budgets have doubled worldwide over the past 2 years—going from $16 billion U.S. in 2014 to $31 billion in 2016 (Hootsuite.com)."

Given that social media and online platforms now are the main source of advertising spend, is it fair for them to ban certain industries? Are they becoming the next set of regulators of what consumers see and have access to?

In this case, the vast amount of fraud in the cryptocurrency market seems to justify the ban on the industry as a whole, but going forward the power and influence of these platforms will need to be monitored.

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/cryptocurrency-industry-might-benefit-from-ad-ban/

Google to Introduce Self-Destructing Emails

https://mashable.com/2018/04/13/self-destructing-emails-in-new-gmail/?utm_cid=hp-n-1#D8HrJmbg4gqJ

Anonymity on the web has been a big trend recently as evidenced by the growth of Snapchat and other disappearing content features such as Instagram Stories. This desire to have 'disappearing' content has now also penetrated email as the re-designed version of Gmail will feature "self-destructing emails". Users will be able to set emails to 'expire' after a certain amount of time and disappear from the both the sender's and recipient's inboxes.

Another notable feature is the ability to send emails in 'confidential mode' that prevents the recipient from forwarding or downloading/printing the email. I'm curious to see how users respond to these changes as email has always been particularly reliable communication method because there is a 'permanent' record of communications that you can go back to. It will be a shift in customer behavior to have email content no longer be completely available. I also think these new features have implications on the political landscape given the scrutiny around email communications and the most recent election and the media focus on the current administration.  

Artists' favorite social media app

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/apr/01/damien-hirst-hates-sausages-how-instagram-became-arts-new-playground

Adolescents need Snapchat, media drones must have Twitter, msuical.ly is for miming schoolgirls and LinkedIn a mecca for middle managers - but increasingly, Instagram is where the art world plays. In our era of post-truths and fake news, Cindy Sherman, a legend when it comes to photo-sharing is now on Instagram. She is doing what she does best: Distorted photos.  And everything that goes with it: the narcissism, the perils and pleasures of self-exhibition, the cunningly filtered fantasies masquerading as the real thing.

In the past, Sherman would display her art in galleries and magazines. But now, she found the perfect venue to express her art and build followers. This is new in the art world. Art followers now get instant access to their favorite artists' work.  Worlfgang Tillman is another artists who posted his art: "A sliced strawberry", "Fruits isoles". Through mediums like Instagram, these artists can reach the "longtail" audiences that was not possible before.

In this time and age where we blame Social Media to be evil for post-truths and fake news, this and many other examples show that it is not all black and white. Social Media is in its infancy, just like how cars were when they started to displace horse carriages. The future is bright and promising for Instagram and Social Media, in general!

Is SEO Dead? Alive or Evolving?

I’m so tired of reading articles that say that Search Engine Optimization is dead. Maybe the writers are merely being provocative. While SEO is NOT dead, the way that it's being doing it might be. It would be fair to say that traditional SEO is dead.

It’s human to want a repeatable formula to achieve a goal. The bad news is that there is no precise formula to SEO anymore. Sure, there are best practices, and a skilled SEO practitioner can greatly increase the chances of a good outcome. But we live in a world that comes with no guarantees — especially where SEO is concerned.Of course, there have never really been any absolute guarantees when it comes to SEO. You should run away screaming from any SEO practitioner who promises one.But for years, many operated under the illusion that if we just tweaked our title tags a little more and got just one more link, we would be rewarded with a higher ranking.

So if we aren’t able to predict an outcome from our optimization efforts, do I agree with those pundits who say that SEO must be dead? Winning at SEO today is not about figuring which buttons to push. Once you have done the technical due diligence to make your site Google-friendly, you need to put on your marketer’s hat and give up the old school SEO “tactics” that used to work but don’t anymore.

The following article throws more light on the future of SEO:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2018/04/09/is-seo-dead-or-is-it-evolving/amp/

Facebook Imposes New Restrictions on Ads and Popular Pages

Facebook announced measures to substantially broaden the scope of its ad vetting in response to the ongoing controversies surround data leaks and fake news. The social network will now require both political advertisers and "issues" advertisers (ads covering hot-button issues like immigration, gun control, etc.) to be verified. This is on top of pages with large numbers of followers to also be verified individuals or entities, and Facebook will make available to followers additional history regarding these pages.

These changes are first steps in helping to reduce the amount of manipulation and bad actors that can influence users on the site. In addition to verification, Facebook will provide data to the actual viewers that includes labeling, who paid for the ad and what sort of demographic it aimed to target. While it's relatively easy to determine what constitutes a political ad, it is not as simple to determine what constitutes issues ads.  But it seems Facebook is incentivized to take a more conservative approach to determining, not only to restore their reputation but also to help users realize how they are being targeted because it will change how we digest ads.

In general, these steps help to provide transparency in a market that really hasn't seen any to date. At the same time, it will make it much more difficult for companies like Cambridge Analytica to offer services they'd argue create value for advertisers. It will be interesting to see how these changes impact Facebook's ongoing share of digital advertising, but one can only hope that it sets a new standard that gets replicated across the industry.

https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-issue-based-ads-pages-restrictions/

Will B2B marketing embrace Mobile Video?

http://www.adweek.com/digital/4-ways-b2b-marketers-should-be-using-mobile-video/

Will B2B marketing embrace Mobile Video?

B2B marketers have stayed away from conventional B2C marketers tools of consumer engagement. However, with the fast changing customer behavior, mobile videos present a significant opportunity for B2B companies to engage a wider customer demographics.

This article shares an interesting view on how B2B marketers can engage their target customers. The article talks 4 easy and relatively low cost ways to attract younger demographics. New mobile technology allows for 10 sec or shorter clips as teasers to start putting the B2B brand out there.

Younger consumers are looking for interaction. How B2B marketers use mobile video platform to both create brand awareness and customer loyalty will be key.

The article also suggests that the opportunity is knocking right now and B2B marketers should act. How companies leverage the mobile technology to both captivate and engage consumer will decide the new winners.

What's Your Facebook Ad Profile

In the spirit of transparency, Mark Zuckerberg vowed that users would be given more information about how their data is applied and that third party sites would be investigated for how they interact with user information. One of the things that really struck me this week was the ad categorization that Facebook in particular had for me:

While the above was meant to incite trust, I was actually spooked out by the intimacy and accuracy of details that Facebook had drawn about me and my friends. And surprised about the relevance of "Friends of Soccer" or the conclusion that I am very liberal, something that I only learned of while going over my own profile. If you are curious about how your choice of friends and shared posts define you too, please follow the simple steps below:

1. Settings
2. Account Settings
3. Ads
4. Your Information
5. Your Categories

This seems very much in line with his interview last month with CNN's tech correspondent, Laurie Segall where he emotionally apologized and promised to do better for the sake of the legacy he wants to leave for his daughters. Strangely enough, this contradicts 2009 interview on BBC where he swore that privacy was central at Facebook as the company celebrated 170 million users. If you're not bothered by the contradictions yet, Techcrunch reported that individuals who have been in communication with Mark Zuckerberg report his part of the conversation being magically deleted while theirs left behind. This comes as Zuckerberg's ethics are being questioned and he's still holding on to the mantle of having good intentions but made a simple mistake.

There is nothing wrong with profit maximization and the ad model at Facebook save for the lies around it. If Facebook could follow the lead of Google and Amazon, two sites that may actually know more about us, and just stopped emphasizing emotionally about how user privacy matters, perhaps this would not be a big deal. There are a million ways to be authentic and when we compare the other two giants in this space, the Cambridge Analytica scandal is a lesson in radical authenticity, something that Facebook had always sworn by but apparently never practiced.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/05/zuckerberg-deleted-messages/

Next Up: Ads That Can Predict the Future

Advertisers' ability to be highly specific in whom they target and the message that they send is constantly improving with technology. Think of the ability to "geofence" to within accuracy of 10 feet, thanks to the proliferation of mobile phones: a capability that brick and mortar retailers would have only dreamt of not long ago. Or for a specific kind of e-commerce seller, like an online shoe store, the ability to deterministically target an individual shopper who abandoned a pair of shoes in his shopping cart.

These increasingly granular capabilities are adding to demonstrable ROAS (return on ad spend), which is a great general trend for advertisers. For device users, the impact is mixed: in the best cases, an ad for a truly relevant and helpful product is shown and a transaction occurs. In the worst cases, it's a spooky invasion of privacy.

One great way to tip the scale in favor of the former is to apply the same R&D and technological rigor to the content of the creative itself as has been expended on the "pipes" (that is, the technology that has enabled the delivery of the creative). In other words, why not double down on the concept of "dynamic creative," making it about more than just the ability to show a specific SKU to a specific consumer? Wouldn't a more engaging creative, one that inspires a "wow, how did they even do that?" increase the likelihood of productive engagement?

Google's recent ads during the final four - this is Google acting as an advertiser for the Google Cloud product - provide a great example. In this case, what made the ads impressive were not any form of hyper-targeting that might provoke the privacy response; it was data science wizardry that brought about what turned out to be highly accurate predictions for the game that was about to be played. And while it may seem like wizardry, the math required to produce it was likely fairly rudimentary. Far more rudimentary, at least, than the R&D that goes into the development of adtech development pipes.

In a data-driven world, advertisers have an opportunity to drive engagement through clever technology not just through highly specific targeting, but also by leveraging clever algorithms that result in data or visuals that are engaging from a user's intellectual perspective.

http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/googles-real-time-final-four-ads-tried-to-predict-the-games-outcomes-so-how-did-they-do/

NBC UNIVERSAL LOOKS TO ANSWER TV'S RATINGS PLUNGE WITH A NEW METRIC

http://adage.com/article/special-report-tv-upfront/nbc-universal-solve-tv-measurement-issues-metric/312997/

NBCUniversal is introducing a new metric that they claim will account for advertisement viewing across all of their platforms. (live, on-demand, time-shifted and Hulu / Roku) The success of this new metric could change industry standards when it comes to both advertising costs and digital campaigns. The impression based metric will give marketing departments comprehensive data of their advertising campaign's exposures. This will allow both NBCUniversal and advertisers a level setting to set pricing and measure effectiveness within programming. Finding ways to measure advertising effectiveness has become increasingly difficult as audience consumption has migrated to digital platforms.


For firms that are looking to leverage a primarily digital strategy, this new metric plans to give them better results on the value of digital advertising. NBCUniversal is also leveraging third-party measurement sources to ensure accuracy. For those firms that already predominately focus on digital, this will give their marketing departments new insights to be able to better reach their target audiences.

Dark Patterns: Roach Motels of the Internet

In the wake of the recent Cambridge Analytica data breach newsbreak, a #deletefacebook campaign was ignited and many called for the deactivation of Facebook accounts. Have you ever actually tried deleting your Facebook account or how about deactivating your Amazon account? Ever had a difficult time trying to unsubscribe from a marketing email?

If your answer to any of the above questions is “Yes”, then you have very likely been a victim of dark patterns. By definition, dark patterns are subtle, intentional tricks used on websites or apps that make you take actions you don’t intend to do to benefit the company (i.e. subscribe or activate) or make it very difficult to take actions that will hurt the company (i.e. unsubscribe or deactivate). At their core, these are malicious practices that harm users and benefit the organizations behind them. Be aware as you browse the internet and apps and try not to fall into any of these dark patterns traps. The metaphor to roach motels is an apt one- dark patterns are designed to let you in easily and make it really difficult to get out.

Below is a classic example of a dark pattern. The “Continue with Free Plan” link is discretely tucked away into the top corner in fine print and blends into the background graphic, while the paid plans are prominently displayed with large font in the center of the screen. Also notice how the Professional Plan is tagged with “Recommended” and the “Confirm Trial” button is highlighted and stands out enticing you to click.

Another dark pattern example is the below marketing email from Old Navy. Clearly, Old Navy knows how inboxes are set up and display unread emails with a blue circle on the left-hand side. They have purposefully included a blue circle embedded in the email subject line to appear as a symbol of unread email, therefore encouraging the user to click, even if it has already been read. This design likely benefits Old Navy’s open or clickthrough rates.

The below video walks you through the process of deactivating your Amazon account. As you might have guessed, it’s not an easy process and requires the user to navigate through layers of webpages through not obvious links.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=kxkrdLI6e6M

https://darkpatterns.org/

The Convergence of Voice- and E-commerce

With news breaking this week that Target is offering coupons for users who place voice-activated orders through Google, it begs the question of just how quickly voice-commerce will become similar to e-commerce and how the two will differ. To-date the two have been relatively different, but given the way that commerce works today, there's a good chance the two will start to converge.

Search- Firstly in the search space, today Google dominates search, but Amazon is a big competitor in the product-search space. With Amazon taking such a  dominant role in the voice space, it's possible that things will shift more and more in Amazon's favor.

Advertising- The next logical question is what will advertising look like. PPC search is a big part of Google's ad business, and display ads are a big part of both Amazon and Google's businesses. As the world becomes more and more voice-centric, and thesevisual forms of advertising go away, the question of what voice-driven advertising will look like (or sound like!) becomes more and more of an issue. If display and search based ads aren't driving people to make purchases, what will?

http://www.adweek.com/digital/google-and-target-issue-the-first-voice-activated-coupon-for-google-assistant/

YouTube Attack Blamed on Ad Revenues

The authorities believe that Nasim Agdham may have been motivated in her attach by the fact that YouTube has changed their ad revenue policy.  Nasim had recently written on her website about the fact that her posts which had over 300,000 views only earned her 10 cents.

YouTube has clamped down on their privacy policy - pulling ads from controversial sites, sometimes without explanataion, and have increased the threshold before which people can gain revenue to 4,000 hours of watchtime and 1,000 subscribers.

This is a testament to how important advertising revenue has become to people and websites -- although the outcome of this story was tragic.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/technology/youtube-attacker-demonetization.html?hpw&rref=technology&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well

Pinterest - the sleeper social network

Pinterest has experienced at 50% YoY growth in small and medium-sized businesses.

Why?

It might have something to do with the fact that Pinterest users are so far down the funnel. As head of SMB at Pinterest, Matt Hogle says, "people come here specifically to decide what to do or buy next."

It also may have to do with Pinterest Propel which provides one-on-one support for businesses looking to maximize their efforts on the platform. In play for about a year now, business who use the Propel service see a 15% lower cost per click than those who do not use the service. Pinterest's custom pin factory actually completes the graphics and sends them back to the businesses, ready to promote. This service stands out from Pinterest's social competition, including Facebook and AdWords, because the creative is not a standard part of their services.

This hands-on approach on the part of Pinterest explains why SMBs are flocking to the platform. With limited resources that need to be stretched, removing much of the uncertainty from assembling pins to promote saves these businesses time, and, therefore, money. The sooner they know what works, the sooner they can focus their resources and growth their businesses.

GDPR Benefits to Advertisers

https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2018/mar/21/gdpr-two-big-benefits-advertisers-can-expect-2018/

Generally, regulation is a dreaded by companies due to its high compliance costs and imposition on strategy and operations. No doubt advertisers are less than thrilled about GDPR and the limitations it places on the use of consumer data. This article gives an interesting perspective on the benefits of GDPR for those who are forward thinking about what it means for digital marketing.

To me, it seems advertisers have been a bit 'lazy' with regard to data, collecting as much as they can, despite the fact that a lot of it is not useful. The article suggests, to this end, that data quality will improve as a result of the regulation. The costs associated with having large volumes of data that do not provide a lot of value were relatively low before, but that will change under GDPR and it will become much more expensive. Advertisers will be forced to have a more focused data strategy with clear and meaningful ROI targets.

The second benefit the article suggest is improved ad experiences. It is spot on in saying that many consumers tune out ads, finding them irrelevant and intrusive. They even go as far as to block the ads, further limiting the ROI using the current strategies. GDPR requires advertisers to use customer-verified data, which means that targeting can be significantly improved. Personalized ads are far more successful.

While the initial costs of complying with GDPR will surely be burdensome, firms who embrace the change and the challenge will be well positioned to ultimately capitalize on it.

Facebook Ends Third-Party Data For Targeting

Facebook, a cookieless walled garden environment, will soon end the ability for brands to use third party data providers from offering audience targeting on its platform. This move is a direct response to the mounting Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Previously, advertising could use 'partner categories' to supplement facebook targets with additional data, such as purchase behavior, company employment and household income. Popular vendors like like Acxiom, Epsilon, Oracle, Experian and TransUnion pull these data segments from varying sources, including credit card companies and retailers.

However, starting Sept. 30, advertisers will no longer have the option to use this data to bolster their audience targeting. The only data they brands will be able to use are their own first party data and Facebook-collected data. This will directly affect businesses that lack customer data and CRM. 

Facebook, however, will still work with third-party brokers for measurement purposes. For instance Facebook will still measure offline behavior via partnerships like Oracle Datalogix.

Although some advertisers will certainly need to rearrange their Facebook targeting, the affects of these changes will likely not be that great, considering the volume of data Facebook still enables for targeting.

The change is but one of numerous alterations Facebook has promised to make to secure its platform. By restricting the amount of data flowing in and out of Facebook, customers can expect a more secure experience.

Additional changes include Facebook temporarily blocking new chatbots and apps from launching on its platforms. Moreover, a number of privacy tweaks have been announced as well. 

https://adexchanger.com/platforms/facebook-kills-off-third-party-data-for-targeting/

Think Twice Before Creating Content on Social Topics

"Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly we missed the mark, and we apologize. We did not intend to make light of any serious issue. We are removing the content and halting any further rollout. We also apologize for putting Kendall Jenner in this position."

-- Pepsi statement on April 5, 2017

Last year, Pepsi released a commercial featuring Kendall Jenner, a supermodel, who joined protesters in a demonstration. This commercial raised controversy surrounding how Pepsi showed no sensitivity towards social topics and had no idea what it is like being on the front lines of protests these recent years.

"If the Black Lives Matter movement were led by a 21-year-old white supermodel armed with a can of fizzy soda, then maybe everyone would just get along." says NBC.

There is definitely value for creating marketing content surrounding social topics. However there is sensitivity towards every social topic and the risk of ignorance is very high. Pepsi's ad had a well-crafted story with fancy filming skills and inspiring background music. What's lacking was due diligence and the understanding of what real demonstration is like - even if I've never been part of any demonstration, I could see how the ads selectively dramatized the scene. Here is a full clip of the ads, which was removed by Pepsi as the statement said.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA5Yq1DLSmQ

Source:

http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/how-pepsi-got-it-so-wrong-unpacking-one-of-the-most-reviled-ads-in-recent-memory/

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/pepsi-ad-kendall-jenner-echoes-black-lives-matter-sparks-anger-n742811

Location based Advertising - next big thing in Digital Marketing

Let me start by expelling the concept behind Location Based Advertising.

Location-based advertising hinges around the fact that wherever we go these days we always carry a mobile with us. And most of us quite happily share our location data with the various apps we use.
This presents an opportunity for advertisers to personalize their messages to people based on their current location. In real time. Using a person’s location data, gleaned from their mobile device, advertisers can send different messages to people depending on where they are.

Why is it so effective? Part of it has to do with changing attitudes. As I mentioned above, consumers are becoming more relaxed about their data. But there are a number of other reasons why this channel is proving so effective.

Let's take a look at those reasons in greater detail.

1. It’s personalized - We already know from various studies that personalized messages enjoy greater engagement than their generic counterparts, and location-based personalization is no different. By personalizing ads to people based on their location, you are much more likely to show them something relevant.

2. It’s timely - One of the key strengths of location-based ads is that they are timely. Because location data is served in real time, there is an opportunity for brands to target people at precise moments. Store beacons, for example, tell shops when you walk through their door.

3. It’s targeted- Long gone are the days of generic display ads. With the amount of data available for marketers there is no excuse for not targeting your messages. 46% of people say they use ad blockers because ads are ‘often irrelevant’, according to an IAB UK study carried out last year. If ads are properly targeted, they are almost certain to be more relevant and therefore much less likely to be blocked or ignored.

I found a great article which explains why Location Based Advertising is the 'in-demand' tool being using in Digital Marketing

https://www.marketingtechnews.net/news/2018/mar/26/location-based-mobile-ads-drive-double-engagement-generic/

Google Gets Its Hands on GIFs

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram or engage in any text/GroupMe/WhatsApp with me, you know I love a good GIF. It's almost a problem, because I have to remind myself not to use them in professional settings (although I am leaving finance and heading back to tech, so I think that is a little more acceptable). I am not the only one either, as GIFs are more popular than ever. Just as a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF is worth more than a million words.

This is my favorite GIF and is heavily in rotation currently on my phone

And Google announced this past week that it is acquiring GIF platform Tenor. Tenor will continue to operate as a separate brand within Google, but the GIFs would be featured on many of its services going forward. This is huge for brands and advertisers as there are multiple ways to utilize GIFs in digital marketing strategies. For example, brands can tell a story, promote a product, or use on social media channels.

Currently, Tenor works with advertisers to create sponsored GIFs that nest into its searches, which offer a great opportunity to generate a lot of engagement. These can help reinvigorate digital ads with some personality. It's no secret that search ads have become stale and impersonal, and this is a space where GIFs could provide benefit.

Tenor seems to be a natural fit with Google as its positioned as a search company that plays in the social and messaging space. I think that GIFs liven up conversations and easily capture a mood/vibe/feeling. I think Google's move is a wise one, because it's easy to see the integration into digital. Plus, they just make a conversation more fun.

http://adage.com/article/digital/google-s-acquisition-tenor-means-brands/312896/

Instagram Shopping goes Global

https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/19/after-launching-in-the-u-s-instagram-expands-its-shoppable-posts-features-to-business-users-in-eight-other-countries/

Instagram Shopping is now available globally on the social media site for apparel, jewelry or beauty brands opening up the channel to more direct marketers. Instagram first started testing the feature in the US last year before rolling it out to eight new countries this month including Canada, Brazil, UK, Germany, France Italy, Spain, and Australia. This is a big change for international retailers who previously had been restricted from selling through Instagram in the US. The feature lets marketers get in touch with their audience without buying ads but reaching their customers through their organic posts and allowing them to seamlessly tap and shop the product in just a few clicks. Currently the feature is limited to only single posts and not carousel or video posts but one can assume that Instagram will be building out the functionality for all post types. The key to ensuring the feature continues to be a success will be providing marketers with clear analytics so that they can easily track performance and see how many people clicked through or viewed product details. This type of feedback loop is important to improve content offerings. 

Google opening up to third-party reviews

https://marketingland.com/google-announces-third-party-measurement-expansions-mrc-nielsen-comscore-236517

Google has opened up to third-party reviews in the following three areas:

• Brand safety assurances and controls
• Verification that traffic on ads is real.
• That advertisers get fair value for their advertising.

Brand safety assurances and controls

Google is on track to hire more than 10,000 manual content reviewers to review the contents on its platform. In efforts to boost brand safety, Google is now confirming to standard put forward by JICWEBS (Joint industry committee for web standards in the UK and Ireland). Additionally, the company is simplifying the complex brand safety controls in YouTube today.

Verification that traffic on ads is real

In March 2017, Google announced that it is working with Media Rating Council (MRC) on getting certified  an additional 40 new metrics similar to accepted metrics like clicks and impressions. The goal is to work with industry leaders on bringing standards around acceptable marketing metrics.

Google is also expanding YouTube reach measurement from Nielsen and comScore. Nielsen mobile measurement on YouTube is extending to three new countries: UK, Germany and France. It is expanding comScore measurement for YouTube to nearly 13 countries. Finally, to help advertisers compare YouTube advertising to TV campaign performance, Google announced a new partnership with German TV ratings measurement group AGF.

On GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation),  May 25.

The newly enacted law protecting EU citizens will go live on May 25, 2018. The legislation protects EU citizens even outside of EU. Google is taking this very seriously and has put in place tools that users can use to download the data their personal data from Google and vet it using rival third-party applications.