Yes, Our Smartphones are Listening

15 Feb Yes, Our Smartphones are Listening

You might be thinking that your phone is listening to you. It happens to all of us. One moment you are talking about this amazing new brand of yogurt that you tried yesterday and the next thing you know, there’s an ad for it on your Facebook feed. You might feel like this may just be coincidence but it’s definitely your phone listening to you.

It turns out that your smartphone is similar to smart speakers like the Amazon Echo and the Google Home. It can listen to words like Hey Siri, and Okay Google all of the time. Certain words trigger your smartphone to start recording. Third-party apps like Facebook and Instagram may have access to this local data and it’s up to them if they want to use it or not.

This is very similar to how virtual assistants work. Although this may seem concerning, it’s perfectly legal and is just a tool for advertising. Voice triggering is just yet another available tool that are similar to browser cookies and location tracking to effectively target ads.

We also use a lot of voice assistants in this day and age which is documenting our requests. What’s most fascinating about voice assistants is that people are engaging with them as if they were human. While it’s something we’re not totally accustomed to yet, users around the world are saying “please” and “thank you” and even apologizing to this technology. These devices are essentially setting us up to embrace the future as AI begins to take centerstage during this influential shift in society.

Brands should be considering how to utilize these voice triggering methods in order to sell more. Here at Berning Marketing, we stay ahead of the most current trends. From Virtual reality to voice triggering, our team here at Berning Marketing will take your brand further.