Ads in My Twitter Stream – What Happened to Informed Consent Hootsuite?

A couple of days back I chose to follow my normal course of behaviour and play with any new Twitter clients for my much loved HTC Hero.  As yet there has been nothing on par with the truly awesome Gravity client on Nokia’s Series 60 by @janole so anything new gets a fair go.

I’d seen reviews of Hootsuite’s new client and after throwing a nice shiny baked ROM at the Hero I was able to download and install Hootsuite Lite.  There is a paid for version ($1.99 at time of writing) but as the only additional benefit I could see was the ability to handle more than 3 Twitter accounts (and I use but 1) there was little point in spending the cash just to see if it works.

Setup was simple enough, even though the you get hassled a couple of times to create a new Hootsuite account before being offered a connection to your Twitter account.

Now I’m not going to review the application other than to say it’s very usable, has some decent thinking around navigation and handles a Twitter account admirably – at least on par with the current leader Seesmic in my opinion.  But something odd happened after a feed refresh sometime on Saturday.

I was out and about, hit refresh and a curious new message appeared in my stream from someone I don’t follow.  This in itself given Twitter’s problems of last weeks with random tweets appearing was nothing too odd but this tweet had a different coloured background and the format of the message was odd.

I quickly sent out a tweet to the crowd asking if anyone else had seen these “ads” but everyone who responded hadn’t. Was this the first inkling of the much talked about Twitter advertising model.  If so it was pretty well exactly what I had expected it might be but had no knowledge of it having yet been enabled.

Of course being out and about research was a little hard to do.

So yesterday I sat down for half an hour and did some digging.  It turns out that Hootsuite have partnered with a third party Twitter advertising agency called 140Proof who’s model is to sell advertising messages injected directly into one’s stream by the client application.  They look and feel like tweets but they aren’t – they are put there ONLY in the application stream.

They are inoffensive and not at all obtrusive, as I said they pretty well looked and felt how I would expect a Twitter ad to be BUT I hadn’t asked for them and more importantly I couldn’t recall ever being informed that I was going to get them.  There were no signup T&C’s with the mobile app, no details easily found on Hootsuite’s web page, nothing.

A little more digging and it turns out that, according to this article on Techcrunch that,

Twitter clients pass 140 Proof a user ID list (with no names) and the public information contained in a Twitter users profile, and on the advertiser side, advertisers bid on ads to be directed toward users based on keywords in tweets, followers, as well as device, location and platform. 140 Proof’s algorithms calculates Twitterer’s “persona” based on public tweets and who they follow and serves ads to users based on this data.

YOU WHAT?  So without my permission Hootsuite passes my PI and graph to a third party who then does their thing with it, sells that bundle (anonymously granted) and throws back a targeted advert!

Now sure my stream is public and viewable by all but that doesn’t make it acceptable for a business to utilise that information for their own gain without at least first asking for permission.  What happens if you have a private non-publicly viewable Twitter stream?  Does Hootsuite not work or do they just blindly continue to pass that data on to 140 Proof?

I don’t mind the ads, they make sense, they (in theory and assuming I pay them attention) pay for Hootsuite to offer up their client for “free” (read no money there) but informed consent is required.

For the record NOT one of the adverts I  have seen over the last couple of days has been even vaguely “relevant” nor have I clicked through on any.

I’ll be having a chat with some people over just what consent they should have obtained as surely there must be a requirement in the EU but it’ll be more interesting to see just what sort of lifespan the 140 Proof model will have once Twitter actually do get their advertising live.

UPDATE: I am interested to hear from anyone who has knowledge of the BT/Phorm case being brought by the CPA;  specifically the abuse of Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

If Hootsuite are intercepting my profile and tweet stream and shipping it off (hashed or not) to 140Proof for analysis and spam would this constitute a breach also?

Don’t get me wrong I don’t want Hootsuite punished I just wonder if this is/were the case what would be their knowledge of the issue and how would the choose to address it.

Spotify Premium Now HALF-PRICE!

Only a couple of weeks ago I posed the question on Twitter “would Spotify double uptake if they halved the price?” To which, of course the answer was no, and it was pointed out quite clearly.

Last week we had confirmation from 3UK that they would be releasing the HTC Hero with Spotify Premium baked in next month and hey guess what I’ve just had in my inbox…

Now I am really really tempted.  Having bought 5 or 6 albums in the last month alone at £4.99 a month with offline cache the Spotify model is starting to look attractive.

UPDATE (17:50):  Having just dry run the offer it looks like it is a one-time-use discount code so it is entirely possible the offer is only being made to i) existing Spotify users and ii) even that group may be in some way limited.  Let me know if you had the offer.

Was Vodafone’s PAYG Outage in Bad Faith?

Not being a VF UK user I was a little late to hear that apparently their PAYG topup mechanisms were out for the weekend – probably the busiest period of the week for PAYG users.

Mobile operators are not known for being the nicest of fairest of companies to deal with I know but given the ubiquity and essentialness of their service in modern life it does seem a little poor on VF’s part to not allow normally willing paying customers just to utilise the network whilst VF fanny around with their billing systems.

3UK – Resolution Reached

Okay I promise to try to keep this short(ish) but felt it only fair to actually post a note to say that a resolution has been reached over my protracted escaping from the clutches of the black-hole of customer service that is the mobile network 3.

Quick back-story for those not wanting to read the 2 part monster posts (here & here); I had cancelled, tried to leave, was prevented from doing so and then charged for the privilege of remaining an unwilling Customer.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I am a very lucky person.  Lucky in that I have the great privilege of having met and maintained contact with plenty of really cool (and useful) people in the mobile industry.

I made a phone call to a senior 3 PR manager (who was on holiday), recounted the story and by the opening of play the following day the mythical 3 Executive Office was calling me to discuss.

Long story, cut short they were very apologetic, ensured the correct cancellations and credits were applied and sent me on my merry way.  Job done.

So to that lovely 3 pr manager, thank you.

To the delightful chap from 3 Executive, I thank you also.

To the senior 3 director who rang me afterwards to discuss the sneaky, underhand and downright dirty tactics of the UK’s mobile industry as a whole over the number portability – a huge thanks.

As a note: the limp and ineffective Ofcom are releasing their draft paper on number fast-portability in August, which will make for interesting reading.

So Long (3UK) and Thanks for all the Frustration – Part 2

Unilaterally moving the contract goalposts is not on when the Customer loses out, and especially not on when that same power is not offered up to the Customer – have you ever tried to break a mobile contract early, they normally demand your firstborn as an “Early Termination Fee” irrespective of the reasoning?

I Took the Out.

Well documented on the various mobile forums were tales of horrendously long calls, multiple hoops to jump and pathetic retention attempts by 3.  But being one for a challenge and having seen the text message from 3 that made it quite clear one was at right to terminate should one wish I leapt in.

And all the forum messages were right.

3UK: “As a goodwill gesture 3 would like to offer you £20 for the inconvenience”

Me: “No thanks. I want to cancel the contract as allowed for in clause 10(?) of the agreement”

3UK: “Have you used the 3 Like Home Service?  The new pricing is in line with the EU recommendations.”

Me: “Just NO.  I want to terminate my previously acceptable chaining to 3 for another 10 months (or so) as I no longer trust 3 won’t move those goal posts again.”

It took a number of conversations over a good 50 minutes BUT eventually I was given the terminations group and offered up a PAC for porting my number over to another network.  They even unlocked my phone for a fee, which I had to haggle down from £90 odd on the grounds that the move was initiated by 3’s actions.

And so I went my merry way.

Time for a New Service

Now I’d  like to be clear here – I like 3 as a brand; they are fresh, truly innovative (not just the usual mobile operators trick of pseudo-innovation by releasing a new pricing plan), have some great plans, lead the market with their mobile data offerings.  Hell they even offer up a few decent phones (where’s that Android handset?).

I like 3 to the point that in the following couple of weeks I even took notice of several of their newly announced shorter 30-day commitment plans.  Hell they offered EVERYTHING I had/used prior on contract for about half the price.

I visited a 3 Store and asked “Can I transfer my out of contract 3 mobile number to another 3 account, say a Pay As You Go or another contract?” which was of course met with an affirmative response – after all why wouldn’t 3 want to let me retain myself as a Customer

So last week, a good 8 odd days before the PAC expired I rang 3’s direct sales team on their 0800 number, explained what I was trying to do and ordered up a 30 day SIM.

“Just ring Customer Services once the SIM arrives and they’ll sort the number transfer”

Number Porting Pitfall 1

The SIM arrived on 29th June (the day before that PAC ran expired) so dutifully I rang through to 3 Customer Services only to be told, in no uncertain terms, that there was no way in the system my existing 3 number could be ported to this new 30 day SIM, however moving the number to a PAYG was easily done.

When I queried why I had even been sold the thing by 3 the silence was deafening.

A quick transfer to another department saw a mercifully short cancellation of said SIM and another call to Customer Service.

Number Porting Pitfall 2

The second Customer Service call was met with a similar response, it appeared that 3 was completely unable to transfer my number to ANY other product.

When I re-queried this the response was once again a true shocker;

3UK: “What I’d suggest Mr er….. Craggs is that you could use your PAC number as it has another day to go before expiring to transfer your number to another network, and then in 30 days transfer back to the 3 account you want.”

Me: “Seriously?  You are suggesting that I actually leave the 3 network to come back in a month?”

Now I love the self-belief that what ever experience I have with A.N.Other network for those 30 days will be so bad that I’ll forget all this crap and come back to 3, cap in hand begging for a deal.  But it’s hardly a sustainable retention plan is it?

Number Porting Pitfall 3

So with all haste I head over to O2’s website, check out some of their comparative plans, find myself not at all disgusted by the offerings and give them a quick call to check on that whole PAC thing.

Turns out that the 30 days expiry for a PAC isn’t 30 days to use the PAC, rather the whole process HAS to be completed within that timeframe.  Sure would have been nice to have known this previously.

Best go back to 3 and ask for another.

Number Porting Pitfall 4

Yup you read that right, a process put in place to try to make the whole porting of numbers between operators more Consumer friendly has failed me a fourth time.  It’s not entirely far to blame the porting system I know, it is at least if not more so 3’s failing but my patience is beginning to wane by now.

So back on the phone to the inevitably droll and awkward Customer Service for another session.

This time something a little different, which whilst a change was not a welcome one.

3UK: “I see you have another 9 months to go on your account.”

Me: “Really, someone hasn’t updated your system, I cancelled the contract 30 days ago and got a PAC”

3UK: “But you haven’t used that PAC and it has expired.”

Me: “No it hasn’t it expires today, but more to the point I’d like another PAC so that I can actually complete the number porting to another network as suggested by you yesterday.”

3UK: “Sure, but as the ability to cancel your contract based on the removal of the 3 Like Home service ended yesterday and you have another 9 months to go we’ll have to charge you an ETF and….”

Me: “Errr NO!  I’ve tried for over a week now to remain a 3 Customer via two attempts to port that number to a new account so the ONLY reason I need a new PAC is because 3 has effectively stalled me.”

3UK: “I understand but I’m sorry there is nothing we can do.”

Me: “Please escalate this to someone who can help or transfer me to the Glasgow team so they can help.”

3UK: “I’m sorry we have no number for Glasgow and no one here can further help.”

Me: “I know you do have a number for Glasgow and this really isn’t good enough.  3 have created the problem, 3 have mis-sold, mis-led and mis-informed me and now I want 3 to fix it.  Please give me another PAC.”

3UK: “I will go and talk to my manager who probably won’t be able to help [what’s the point of them then? bc]”…. after a couple of minutes.. “thank you for holding Mr er… Craggs, as a one off gesture we will waive the ETF and issue a new PAC.”

Rather obviously at this point I assume a win.  Now I know as a professional that one is never supposed to assume anythng but really this does look a lot like I am getting just what I have asked for, no?

No.

3UK: “Can you please just tell me again why you want to cancel your account?”

BC: “I can, but I have already cancelled it, 30 days ago but for clarity’s sake…” and I recount the whole saga AGAIN.

3UK: “Now there are just a couple of things I need to make you aware of with regards the PAC.”

Me: “Okay, no one told me anything about it last time but carry on.”

3UK: “You must use it within 30 days and we will send you out a final bill for the next 30 days.”

Me: “WHAT?!>?”!?  Er… you want to charge me a whole months fees for a service I neither want or can use once the transfer takes place, a service which I had cancelled, a service which I have tried to replace and have been held up by 3’s failings.  No.  I’m willing to pay pro rata for the month whilst the PAC takes effect for the transfer but nothing more.”

3UK: “I’m sorry but we can’t do that you will be charged for the whole 30 days.”

Me: “Right then, let’s have that PAC, I’ll cancel the direct debit and I’ll take the billing issue up with someone who CAN help.”

And that my patient and attentive friends is where we are at so far.  I have activated the porting process and by Friday should be a fully signed up O2 Customer.  Not because I wanted to change network, not because 3’s reception problems annoyed me and not because 3 didn’t offer exceptional value for money.

I’ve moved on because that value for money was delivered by cutting corners on the single most important function of any business; it’s customer service.

I’ve moved on because Customer Services, a single lone department, had destroyed my trust in the brand.

In this day and age businesses live and die by their after-sales service.

But What About That Final Bill?

Well right now it is unresolved but I am in a privilidged position.  I have contacts, I have friends – and a great many of them are working within the mobile industry.  I can (and have) made direct contact with 3 executives over this issue.

They will converse on my troubles and probably provide the that resolution.

Hopefully they will learn and change, saving all those other poor sods, without my priviledge, the trauma and pain of navigating the disaster that is 3 UK’s Customer Service.