Google’s anti-privacy bill push sparks outrage among advertisers

Google is being criticized for sending emails to small business owners urging them to oppose California Assembly Bill 566, legislation that would strengthen consumer privacy protections in digital advertising.

The outreach campaign, which asks recipients to sign a Connected Commerce Council letter opposing the bill, has prompted marketing professionals to publicly rebuke the tech giant’s tactics on LinkedIn.

Why we care. The dispute highlights growing tensions between digital advertising platforms and privacy advocates as California lawmakers consider new regulations on data collection practices.

AB 566 would require browsers and mobile operating systems to offer a built-in setting allowing users to easily opt out of data collection

Political misinformation. Google’s request was met with rejection by Navah Hopkins, brand evangelist of Optmyzr. In a LinkedIn post, she encouraged support for AB 566, arguing that businesses should build “consent-driven conversations” with customers rather than assuming entitlement to user data.

“We deserve the right to opt out of sharing our information and as marketers, we can absolutely ‘make do’ without perfect data,” she wrote, expressing disappointment in what she called “political misinformation” from Google.

Other advertisers speak up. Hopkins wasn’t the only one with concerns about this request.

Performance marketer Louis Halton Davies said that Google keeps stacking the chips in its favor when it comes to consent rules:

• “Another sad thing is that having consented data is incredibly valuable to Google and not having it is just annoying for SMBs. Appreciate Google is a commercial business but they really take the mick stacking the chips so far in their favor.”

Lead generation specialist Julie Friedman Bacchini said that companies should get express agreement for what will be done with user data. If more people knew exactly what was being done, they would reject having their data collected, she said:

• “Google is pretty notorious for astroturfing issues like this. I have long said that if you cannot get people to actively agree to what you might/want to do with their data then you should not be doing it. The argument that people don’t object is not a fair one as most people have no idea that companies they buy from or provide information to might upload that information to an ad platform like Google Ads. If they did, most would say no thank you, just like they have with Apple’s ATT prompts.”

The other side. In its email campaign, Google claims:

• California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed similar legislation last year.
• AB 566 would mandate “new and untested technology” that might confuse consumers.
• The bill would force businesses to “waste money showing ads to people who live far away or aren’t in the market” for their products.

What to watch. How Google responds to this push back could signal its approach to similar privacy legislation in other states, as the company navigates growing public concern over data collection practices while protecting its core advertising business.