T-Mobile’s advertising business offers a new way for marketers to delve deeper into your app usage habits. Ad Exchanger reports that the new non-operator program is called App Insights and is now fully operational after a year in beta. The program allows third-party vendors to purchase data from T-Mobile customers and focuses on key information to which they have exclusive access: which applications to use.
Customer data is anonymous and grouped with others of similar interests and behaviors, so companies cannot purchase a specific user’s application history. Still, it’s creepy. The company’s advertising segment promotes this strong, clear offering on its website, with the phrase “Apps speak more than words” sprinkled at the top of the page. It also invites potential customers to “take advantage of app statistics, the strongest indicator of consumer intent.” This is dirty. Luckily, you can turn it off.
Ah, that old adage. Image: T-Mobile Advertising Solutions
T-Mobile offers an Android and iOS app called “Magenta Marketing Platform Choices” that lets you see which companies have your data and turn it off completely. You can also use App Choices if you don’t want to, you know, download a T-Mobile app to turn off T-Mobile app tracking. According to Ad Exchanger, iOS users are excluded from the program even if they have enabled application tracking.
This kind of creepy behavior of operators is not new and is not likely to improve. With companies like Google and Apple allowing people to stop tracking more easily, marketers are looking for different ways to look at your online habits. Wireless carriers have been enthusiastically positioned to provide this information, and T-Mobile is just the latest to do so.