[Phlarp]

This is true, but there is still a rampant hyperbole in the ad-tech industry that firms can simply write a check to Google and be handed raw data to mine against. This simply isn't the case.

Plenty of firms will sell you consumer data if you are looking, but it won't be anything near the granularity of what google collects.

Google is not the "big scary player" in town, Verizon and ATT are.