[The Editors' Verdict] There Really Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

You often hear people say, "It feels like my smartphone is eavesdropping on my conversations." For example, after talking with a friend about Tokyo, you start seeing ads for trips to Japan, or after discussing financial investments, cryptocurrency ads appear more frequently. It's hard to dismiss these suspicions as completely unfounded. In January of last year, Apple paid $95 million (about 140 billion won) in settlement money to some customers due to a class-action lawsuit alleging that Apple's artificial intelligence (AI) assistant Siri had eavesdropped on users' conversations. The complaint included cases involving Nike shoes and Italian restaurants-after talking about these topics, the user saw related ads repeatedly appear on their iPhone. While Apple did pay the settlement, it did not admit to any eavesdropping.

In 2024, a similar controversy arose when promotional materials from Cox Media Group (CMG), a company well-known as a marketing partner of Facebook, were leaked. The materials claimed that smartphone microphones were used to collect conversations and utilize them for targeted advertising. Targeted advertising is a marketing strategy that analyzes users' gender, age, interests, search history, and more to display customized ads. CMG later explained that the claims were somewhat exaggerated. Facebook, Google, and Amazon also stated that they have never allowed such advertising practices. While all the big tech companies deny these allegations, suspicions persist. Of course, it is possible that the big tech companies are telling the truth. Some experts point out that even if it is technically possible to collect and use voice data for advertising, its effectiveness is questionable. Smartphones are often kept in bags or pockets, and even if they record 24 hours a day, considering factors like noise and sleep time, real-time monitoring and analysis lose much of their value.

Targeted advertising that utilizes data such as consumer age, gender, current location, and past purchase history tends to have high advertising efficiency and is relatively expensive. Pixabay

So, how do smartphones so accurately understand our thoughts and preferences and show us perfectly tailored ads? In reality, there are many ways to track individuals without eavesdropping on conversations. Simply purchasing and activating a smartphone makes you a target for tracking. Every activated device is assigned a unique advertising ID, such as "K261-A14-24H." This ID can be shared across various applications and services. That's why, after searching for "running shoes" on Naver, you might see shoe ads on Instagram or community sites as well. Not only search history but also factors like location, time, and device type (whether it's a laptop or a smartphone) influence the ads you see.

Consumers are not entirely powerless to resist. For example, Android phone users can delete their advertising ID in the settings. iPhone users are offered the "Ask App Not to Track" option. However, this may not be entirely satisfying. Deleting your advertising ID does not eliminate ads altogether. Instead, you will encounter ads that have nothing to do with your records or preferences. More often than not, these will be low-quality or sensational ads. Without an advertising ID, effective advertising becomes difficult. Advertisers are less willing to invest heavily if they cannot target specific audiences, leading to a flood of poor-quality ads that are simply designed to attract immediate clicks.

Either way, users end up facing discomfort. You may be lured into overspending by sophisticated targeted ads, or you may block tracking and be bombarded by the pollution of low-quality ads-especially when it comes to free internet, free apps, or free social networking services (SNS). In essence, users of free internet services end up paying with their data, namely their thoughts and preferences. There really is no such thing as a free lunch.