How Google Leverages First-Party and Partner Data to Improve Consumer Experiences
For “data machines” like Google, the problem is never having too little customer data—it’s all about managing the data overload to pinpoint the right data to leverage to build customized, targeted, personalized experiences that satisfy users and keep them engaged.
At Streaming Media NYC, Evan Shapiro, CEO, ESHAP, talks with Rob Caruso, Product & User Experience, Google TV, about the ways that Google leverages first-party and partner data to improve consumer experiences.
“I imagine the amount of data provided inside an organization like Google, which is, at the end of the day, a data machine, is just daunting and intimidating and can almost prevent you from investigating and gaining insight,” Shapiro says. “How do you manage that? Are there secrets to it that Google understands on managing the amount of information that the rest of us need to catch up on? And do you see – from a patterns and trends standpoint – where the consumer is headed, where their minds are going, and how to make those correct investments for publishers to make sure they're meeting the needs of the consumer and their own business goals?”
Caruso says, “You can very quickly, at a place like Google or at a place like Netflix, get sucked into an echo chamber of your data, your insights, and how your employees are consuming it.” He emphasizes that finding the balance between internal and external trends is crucial, and he highlights the importance of collaboration with partners to inform recommendations and create a personalized user experience.
Caruso notes that Google TV users do not all use Google or Android services. “You might be using an iPhone to interact,” he says. “So the partners also have a perspective on what they think you should be watching next. So we're working with them in a way that's a little less binary, where it's like us presenting what we think you should have, or you go into the app, and then, say, Netflix presents to you what they think you should have. And we're trying to have more of a blend where partners can help inform some of those recommendations alongside our own. And that would be sort of the perfect nirvana where you could almost fact-check the recommendations you will make on the platform with every partner in real-time before you make them.”
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