[opencl]

Has Google made any public statements about whether or not calendar data is used for ad targeting? Gmail was used for ad targeting until mid-2017[1] but I haven't seen anything about calendar.

[1] https://blog.google/products/gmail/g-suite-gains-traction-in...

[ma2rten]

Afaik, it was never used for ad targeting so there was no announcement to make. Just think about it for minute.

What percentage of people actively use Google Calendar? Out of those what percentage put useful information in there? How much commercial value does this information have?

[dpcan]

Are you serious?

If I put "Go fishing" into my calendar for next Monday, Google knows:

1) This person fishes.

2) This person probably buys fishing related products.

3) We know this person lives in X and fishes there, and business Y has a website selling similar products.

4) This person is going fishing on a Monday afternoon (for example) so they are probably off work on Mondays or afternoons.

Let's say, I also put in meetings. "Meet with Joe about building a website for his company."

1) This person builds websites

2) Uses hosting services

3) Buys domains

4) Probably codes

5) Must need project management software

6) And all other things typically related to people in this field...

Knowing someone's life this intimately is incredibly valuable.

[danShumway]

> Just think about it for minute.

But... why wouldn't they? Google already is heavily invested in doing this kind of parsing because a lot of their calendar entries are integrated with AI that figures out when you need to leave your house, how to add entries dictated over voice, how to auto-add new appointments based on emails without duplicating entries, and so on.

So Google already needs to know how to parse your calendar data in intelligent ways. And the way that data would be integrated into ads is not going to be all that different from the way Gmail data was processed.

Who cares if it's a small fraction of users? It's basically free data, being consumed by technologies that Google already has to build anyway -- and for the few users that do heavily use calendar, you're getting a ton of data on their everyday schedule.

Why build a set of tools that can do all of this parsing and then say, "nah, we're not going to deploy it everywhere."?

> What percentage of people actively use Google Calendar?

I don't know. My hunch is that it's not a fringe product though.

It's been a while since I checked, but I remember either Calendar or Keep being the default calendar app on Android. What percentage of Android owners use the built-in calendar on their phone to set reminders?

[opencl]

I generally expect Google to be using all possible data sources they have access to for ad targeting without explicit statements otherwise like Gmail has received.

You work for Google and are apparently "pretty sure" that Calendar isn't used for ad targeting but don't actually know, how is a consumer supposed to know this stuff?

[merlinsbrain]

Your arguments assume best of intentions and a lot of present and past knowledge of the calendar team.

I want to believe you, I like the story you are telling. Unfortunately you like it too and are not being objective.

[zorpner]

How much commercial value does this information have?

Enough to make it worth continuing to operate the service, clearly. Do you really want to go down that road?

[rat9988]

Google has to process this data first to know that it's not worth it. Unless you can blind guess?

[gumby]

You have access to their appointment graph from all the calendar invitations sent, especially with attendees list. You have access to meetings I am invited to even though I don't have a google account since my email address appears in invitations.

[nabakin]

Much of my family uses Google Calendar. Mostly because it's integrated into Android itself.